Adult Payment Processing

Performance Card Service (PCS) is an adult payment processor with more than 20 years of experience helping adult content providers establish merchant accounts, manage chargebacks and deal with all other processing-related issues unique to this business. 

The adult sector is a lucrative billion-dollar industry that continues to evolve. Bolstered by advances in technology, adult content and products that were previously difficult to locate and acquire have now become readily available. Consumers are able to purchase these items in the privacy of their homes. By becoming more widespread, the negative connotation associated with the adult industry has also changed and become more mainstream. But even with the new era of acceptance, many people still disapprove and believe these products and content should be prohibited. With many still trying to enforce or increase restrictions on the adult industry, it is still classified under the high risk category. As a result, many merchants struggle to obtain adult payment processing and/or adult credit card processing for their legal businesses.

In our experience working with merchants that offer digital adult content services, we have found that one of the main reasons the business is classified as high risk is due to subscriptions. Many of the merchants that offer adult content do so with a recurring payment model. Unfortunately, many processors identify the subscription model as a liability, because automatic recurring payments are often accompanied by a high number of chargebacks. Being deemed part of a high risk industry creates a challenge for merchants when trying to secure adult payment processing for their businesses.

A few reasons chargebacks are common with the subscription model is that not all customers are aware that they are signing up for a recurring monthly payment. Other customers may be aware of the monthly subscription but do not recognize the name of the company on their credit card statements and believe that these are fraudulent charges. In other instances, customers no longer want the subscription but don’t know how to cancel their accounts. Many times, in these situations, the customer calls his or her issuing bank/credit card provider and disputes the charge, instead of requesting a refund directly from the merchant. This results in a chargeback to the merchant. Chargebacks may result in fines, as well as the merchant being placed on the Terminated Merchant File (TMF) list or ultimately having its account closed.

The easiest way to prevent subscription-model problems is to display clear terms of the subscription/recurring payment service multiple times on the merchant’s website. When the terms are listed in numerous places, customers are likely to be more aware of the contract they are signing and the recurring costs. Merchants should also have a very recognizable descriptor or name, so customers recognize what company has placed the charge on their credit card statements. This greatly reduces chargebacks — whether the customer is purchasing recurring products or a one-time purchase.

Another easy way to prevent chargebacks is for the merchant to provide an uncomplicated refund/cancellation policy that is also listed in multiple locations on its website.

PCS partners with processors and banks that understand the obstacles that may occur when trying to obtain adult payment processing and/or adult credit card processing for your business. Our processors support a wide variety of delivery methods for the adult industry — including audio text, video text, or digital content services accessed via phone or Internet. This includes non-face-to-face adult content video text and audio text services, and DVD rentals. In tandem with our adult content payment processor partners, we work to ensure merchants receive excellent customer service and support to give their businesses the best chances of longevity in the adult industry.