Best Payment Processors for Adult Sites
Adult entertainment requires efficient and trustworthy financial partners and payment processors to operate with, just like any other sector. Due to the perception that pornographic, adult, and recreational enterprises provide an excessive risk, most commercial and business banks avoid working with these industries.
Traditional payment providers and gateways like PayPal and Stripe are subject to these issues. Fortunately, this increased need for financial services for adult websites has allowed several adult-focused platforms to prosper.
Adult Business Consulting will address payments with the high-risk payment processors in this market in this blog article, and we’ll also mention some of our favorite companies you may use for safe payments.
What is a Payment Processor & a Gateway?
This is a rather straightforward query with a not-so-simple response. A payment processor, according to U.S. News & World Report, is a phrase used to describe the procedures, vendors, and other elements involved in enabling a credit card payment or a virtual transaction to be processed. A credit card transaction involves numerous procedures and parties. Payment processing handles transactions involving credit cards and debit cards. Payment processing services and payment gateways are used to transmit funds from a customer’s issuing bank to a merchant’s account.
Information that is sent through the payment processor is securely connected by payment gateways. So, picture yourself dining out and it’s time to pay the check. Simply deliver your credit or debit card to the server, and the payment information is input through the payment gateway, communicating whether the payment was approved or denied. However, the processor takes the lead in driving the transaction’s real flow by offering a seamless mechanism to collect card information from the customer’s bank and launch the transfer of funds to the merchant’s commercial bank.
Payment processing through processors and gateways is subject to fees. It makes sense that fees would differ. The standard processing charges for credit cards range from 1.5 to 3.5%. High-risk businesses, particularly those in the adult sector, typically charge much more.
Payment Processor Types
There are two categories of payment processors: standard processors and high-risk processors, both of which are used in the adult entertainment sector. Services from businesses like Square, Stripe, Zettle, and Payment Depot are examples of regular payment processors. Square and Stripe are the two most well-known payment processors in the mainstream sector of the industry. For instance, Square is ideal for small restaurants and food trucks that require immediate, on-demand gateway access. Stripe is designed more for online shopping and retail.
Because they sell age-restricted goods and services, like cigarettes and alcohol, high-risk merchants are matched with high-risk payment processors. Guns, marijuana in some states, and (obviously) adult content and sex-related enterprises are among the other services available.
These high-risk businesses are handled by payment processors, who also assist in preventing chargebacks and entirely mitigating risks associated with fraud, money laundering, and other illicit actions.
Which Payment Processor Is Best for Adult Websites?
Modern platforms designed specifically for the adult entertainment sector’s payment processing needs work against the institutional constraints of conventional fin-tech service providers. It’s not strange that you don’t see a solo PayPal option at checkout when you buy premium pornographic content or join a membership site. That’s because PayPal prohibits purchasing sexual content due to its broad use by financial institutions and its risk-averse business policies. One example we’ll examine later is the successful processing of payments for businesses selling sex toys online and enjoyment products. One of these high-risk payment processors does offer PayPal as a check-out option by using the security and privacy protocol to get around this generally.
Due to societal, political, and legal anger, sexual content has even alarmed credit card corporations such as Visa and MasterCard. For instance, when Nicholas Kristof, a former New York Times editorial contributor, published his infamous “The Children of Pornhub” post, it sparked moral outrage and a backlash against MindGeek’s content management practices. Visa and MasterCard stopped accepting payments for Pornhub and its network of websites in response to Kristof’s writing and the uproar it caused. This action immediately impacted Pornhub creators.
In this sector, high-risk payment processors are essential. Each of the solutions we offer below is what we as a company regard as some of the greatest options for payment processing services in the adult entertainment sector, which is the topic of this blog post.
Epoch
For high-risk industries like adult entertainment, Epoch is a well-known payment processor and provider of payment gateway services. Some of the most significant adult companies use Epoch extensively throughout the industry. Card processing, ACH bank transfers, and a turnkey set of tools are among the services offered. These enable payment processing services for websites of all kinds worldwide. Epoch, as we already noted, is a significant participant in this market because they makes PayPal services available to websites that would not otherwise be eligible. Fees can differ depending on the services you use.
CCBill
Within the adult entertainment sector and other high-risk industries, CCBill is a well-known payment processor. CCBill accepts payments from the US, Canada, and most EU countries. The company conducts more than $1 billion worth of transactions annually. The main funding source for CCBill comes from high-risk payments made across several industries, with a strong emphasis on adult payments. The range of adult content and transaction fees is from 10.8% to 14.5%. The use of CCBill includes several features and models, such as a protocol for subscriptions and memberships and one-time web payments. Adult businesses, producers, independent adult content makers, and performers can take payments from the main credit and debit card networks thanks to CCBill’s incredibly competitive rates and solutions. They also feature a popular affiliate backend.
OrbitalPay
Another choice for handling high-risk payments for adult entertainment is OrbitalPay. They do provide services for several business types, including retail and product sales, membership sites, live cam sites, VOD, and direct services from adult entertainers and studios. Adult service providers may offer responsive and fully integrated credit card payment services thanks to OrbitalPay’s high-risk adult merchant accounts. No matter the services, OrbitalPay’s adult merchant accounts may meet almost any requirement. While fees do vary, they are not made available to the public. For additional information on costs, get in touch with OrbitalPay.
MobiusPay
Another choice for processing high-risk payments is MobiusPay. MobiusPay conducts a large portion of its business in the adult entertainment sector, but it also receives a direct revenue stream from new markets like cannabis, CBD, and drug accessories like pipes. MobiusPay’s product and service offerings cover many high-risk payment types, including chargeback concerns. The solutions created and offered by MobiusPay also include high-risk clients’ credit card processing services, enabling firms in the adult industry to accept payments from all the major credit and debit card networks worldwide. And prices do vary.
Payze
Payze is a company that offers high-risk payment processing services to various markets, including the adult entertainment sector. The Payze platform, which is discussed on the Adult Site Broker Talk podcast, provides several protocols and software solutions that enable high-risk enterprises to function. This offers scalability features for fully integrating the Payze ecosystem into a paysite or membership site. Payze will make it simple to serve foreign clients in the same way that it does local ones. Payze will assist you in reaching more customers and increasing the speed and effectiveness of revenue collection, much like the other service providers on this list.
NETbilling
For some businesses in the adult industry, NETbilling is another supplier of high-risk payment processing services. Processing adult transactions and payment gateway hailing services are included in the NETbilling product offerings. The NETbilling software offers all these features, and it is scalable to the point that it can accept credit card payments from major credit and debit card networks worldwide. For membership websites, VOD providers, and websites that stream live video, NETbilling, for instance, allows extensive credit card and online check processing and chargeback protections. NETbilling, like every platform on this list, offers reporting and analytics to monitor sales trends.
Webbilling
A high-risk payment processing company that predominantly serves the European market is Webbilling. Webbilling is an effective payment option for nations in the European Union, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe. Webbilling is based in the Netherlands and provides services under the name WB Technical Services B.V. The services offered by Webbilling are targeted specifically at businesses in the e-commerce sector, as well as a wide range of other high-risk services that need protection from chargebacks. Webbilling serves as a payment partner for membership sites and subscriptions that offer adult services, enabling credit card sales while also specializing in non-traditional payment methods that other processors don’t accept.
Bitsafe and Verotel
For the processing and delivery of payments, adult professionals can choose between Verotel by Bitsafe and Bitsafe. Verotel is a payment processor and gateway that serves studios and affiliates in the adult industry. The Verotel by Bitsafe platforms includes membership sites, pay sites, competitive rates and volumes, daily revenue distributions, and chargeback protection. Additionally, Bitsafe offers adult companies debit card services and a secure, private platform for cross-border money transmission. Full-stack payment alternatives are given by the financial services offered by Verotel and Bitsafe when combined. Verotel is scalable and supports common credit and debit card services. Verotel is undoubtedly a very dependable payment platform going forward, even though the costs do vary.
eMerchantPay
Another company offering high-risk payment processing services is eMerchantPay. There are currently about sixty services accessible for adult industry companies and performers, and there will be many more in the future. The method used by eMerchantPay to reduce chargebacks and prevent fraud makes it stand out from its rivals. This strategy makes it possible to maintain low fees and asking prices, providing more opportunities to convert and create new revenue-generating techniques. Businesses in the adult sector of all sizes can accept credit and debit cards through the various credit and debit card networks across the world by using the eMerchantPay method.
eMerchantPay charges do vary.
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