What us banks allow adult business checking accounts?
 

I am having the worst problems with this. I need a US bank checking account for my adult business. Anyone know any?

Wells Fargo. Just name it something ambiguous like j2media.

I've never had any problem, but I just tell people that I'm an internet company.

With Wells Fargo I just needed to get a DBA (Doing business as)

As everyone else says...do not tell them you are an adult oriented business. Tell them you are a computer business or online sales, etc.

all of them, as long it's a legitg business with a federal tax id or equivalent I have never heard of a bank turning down a checking account just because of the industry.

I think usually it's okay. Especially if you keep a low profile or are just an affiliate or a small paysite. But there have been a couple stories here in the past of people who have had trouble both inside and outside of the US. I know some people reported having problems with BoA but it might depend on several factors such as where you are located and the manager. Some pretty big porn companies cut checks on BoA accounts.

Yes they do and yes they will shitcan your account.

Some people have reported that happening to them at Bank Of America branches.

Apparently it depends on who the manager is at any given bank branch.

Best not to take that chance. As you said, make sure it's a business account and you have a EIN (federal tax id) and a name for you company that isn't stupid and nasty.
Then tell them that you do online sales for mainstream companies.

That's what I've always done and never had problems.

dont tell them,
register a company / use dba

5th/3rd Bank and Chase Bank both shut me down for being associated with adult. I was very discreet about it too. Go figure.

My account was closed at a bank I'd been using for 20 years... they wouldn't give me any reason why either. And I too was very discreet.

Partner of mine said some banks are so smart, that they google the names of companies you send or receive from cash. Googleing certain names it pops up adult sites. If several those names opens adult sites, they do 1+1=2. The bank (an Euro one) told him simply they googled and found, and asked him to move away, 2 weeks notice.

I thought almost every bank is in US allow adult business, I am really surprised.

If porn is legal, then why would they act like that ? Anyone ?

The US is a very conservative country and the attitudes here towards sex are way behind Europe's--even in SoCal. And I'm not sure porn is technically legal--just ask Max Hardcore.

When the bank told me they were closing my account, I insisted on speaking to someone at the bank about it, and finally--after I kept going to see the local bank manager--a compliance officer called me. He mumbled stuff about how the government is closely monitoring banks as to where deposits are going and where funds are being sent... which doesn't make a lot of sense as my biggest client uses Wells Fargo, and the last time I had a wire from overseas was five years ago. But that was all I could get out of him. Earlier, the bank manager asked me if I was in the marijuana business, or in online gambling, or was getting a lot of wire transfers from abroad--no, to all three.

I knew why they were dumping me though--because I'm in the porn biz.

Yep. And at the same time, they have NO problem doing business with brick and mortar adult book stores. Go figure.

Where have you been ? There has been posts here in the past.

Any bank, anywhere.

If you can't get an account for your adult business, something else is wrong other than the fact that it's for "adult".

How much money were you doing?

I would find it hard to believe that they would turn away someone like a clips4sale, ccbill, or alike who is pushing millions through there. Perhaps if you are some small fry cashing checks for pussycash or something the local branch manager has an issue with you. I am not calling you a small fry, and I just saying perhaps there are other factors involved that you are unaware of on the surface.

I would bet as long as you have a decent chunk of change rolling through there, and you're not drawing attention to yourself, then most do not care. If you get a holy roller involved at the local level, perhaps they have the discretion to close you based on that.

I have a lot of money coming and going on a weekly/monthly basis for my various companies, and I do occasionally get a call from the bank about once every quarter asking me why I have a wire for amount coming in, or why I am wiring this out to some other country as I do business all over the world.

That said, I can easily show them the invoices and legitimate business to comply with their "know your customer" requirements as to the "why". After a few questions, they basically wish me well, and I talk to them again in another quarter under their 'guise of, "asking me about my business to better offer me products and services" yoke.

:1orglaugh

Well I mentioned this a while back but some people tend to overlook it and not realize it. Some of the people in our industry aren't exactly angels. For instance Mansef/Brazzers had millions of dollars seized by the government a few years back. There have been all sorts of actions against industry people for various things like fraud. It's entirely conceivable that even cashing a check from the wrong company can get you put on some kind of special list. Some banks might not like having anyone like that and they may see it as an unnecessary risk. Perhaps there are special procedures and requirements once this is triggered such as they have to report every transaction individually to the government or upload your photo from the security camera, etc.

If you cash checks or receive wires from people who might be under active investigation for money laundering, tax evasion, fraud or maybe even CP (tubes, exgf type sites,etc) you're quite likely to get some extra attention. So maybe in all cases like this it isn't really just the fact that it is porn but perhaps it is something like this?

Again, I think this is a local issue and at the discretion of the bank.

Are banks monitored on bank wires and such both domestic and abroad? Yes. My old college roommate works for Homeland Security and has told me plenty about what they both monitor, and have access too. Not just his department, but the IRS and alike. You can be sure if you're pushing any decent volume through your bank accounts, even bank wires or ACH from ad networks, that they know about it.

That said, there simply have to be a lot more to the stories as they are laid out on GFY. I am sure just because you have bank wires going all over the place coming and going is not enough for most banks to turn away your business.

The same as Paypal who allows adult, as long as it's tangible.

There appears to be a hard disconnect with how banks look at virtual online business, and a brick and mortar or tangibles business. It seems most have little to no issue with the latter.

:2 cents:

A lot of people here probably cashed Manwin checks around the time when Manwin/Fabian was making mainstream news on tax charges. The same for the Mansef multi-million dollar asset seizure many years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if that caused a few account closures if a warning popped up on the computer or a bank manager put it together. There has been so much stuff like this with different companies over the years and there's likely a lot more going on that we aren't aware of yet either.

True dat. Anything's possible.

I am just saying, there is more to the story than typically being told. You have a relationship with a bank for 20 years, and then all of a sudden they are closing it out of the blue? Did you walk in with a pussycash check? Was it during Brazzer's investigated for tax evasion? Did you get a holy roller teller who found out about porn, complained to corporate, and got your account closed?

I am simply saying, there are missing variables from the story.

Even banks overseas have a kyc know your customer policy. Never do business in your own name, start a corp., with a vague mission. File the dba too as an extra layer. Nobody will mess with you as easily.

Our bank leased us our cameras, lights and van years ago.

the only comment from our bank lady: "as long as no children are involved..."

Cover or front websites help enormously too, with matching emails. Make your corp. look too legit...

I think what happened in my case is that the Fed shut down the bank I was originally with (because of bad loans), and it was taken over by a new bank (which is what usually happens). The new regime then started looking at the customers they'd inherited, and I popped up on a compliance officer's computer screen. Someone I know who is only peripherally in the biz was also terminated by the new bank.

You make a good point, as the new bank would not have the prior relationship or understanding, and simply see you as a red flag on their radar. From that point, they basically make a judgement call based on whatever available information or their (new bank) policies.

However, as was my original point, there is typically more involved than a bank just cutting people off thinking they are a porn company. You do not hear about Vivid, C4S, CCBill or alike losing their accounts despite a little research could show their adult associations on a fairly large scale.

btw - the same german bank that cancelled Manwin Germany for "moral reasons" still processes for another porn company and the bank managers even attended their 10 year anniversary party

as long as real money is flowing, they hardly would ever cancel any business. unless it becomes public.

Correct. As I said before,.... there is always more to the story... like going public or bank acquisition, or something or another. They typically are not just going to cancel you out of the blue or do a dateline investigation on you. There is simply more to the story most do not share, which is fine.

I am just saying, to see the truth, we would need to know ALL of the details.

Yeah, I have had 4 bank accounts closed over the past year and I went into 3 banks today and asked if they will open a bank account for a adult related business and they all said no. I am not sure why my accounts get closed, no bank will tell me. I always keep mid 5 figures in the account and they still shut me down. I think it must be the dozens of wires I do around the world.

This may have something to do with an event that happened to me about 7 years ago when Western Union called me and told me I was banned from using Western Union for life because I was on a terrorist watch list. I am moving to Italy in January anyways. I am so done with this bullshit.

I'm jealous.

I haven't had issues with Chase or Wells Fargo.

Have heard shit about BofA though.