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Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

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Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#51

Post by us0r »

preinheimer wrote: post #32
adwi wrote: post #22

My understanding is the rules are dictated by Visa/MC/Amex, and are largely based on chargeback risk for categories of merchants. There are likely further legal and pearl-clutchy reasons that combine to just out and out ban. Anecdote: we talked with every payment processor around for a product we were making that involved storing and spending value from a digital wallet. It was close enough to various Visa/MC rules a…

+1 to the rules coming down from Visa & MC. Amex doesn't allow adult. There's a bit more nuance there, as the rules actually come from the bank issuing your merchant account, rather than some master "Visa" entity. So if you're a big player in the adult game you're going to work to find the right banks willing to issue you merchant accounts. Those banks will also have a compliance department which will look at your co…

Visa is absolutely a master entity that dictates nearly everything including consumer credit reporting requirements and minimum credit lines. They publish an 886 page "public" version which is actually kind of an interesting read:

https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/about-visa/visa-rules...

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#52

Post by us0r »

tyingq wrote: post #20

Somewhat related, a story that digs into who's running onlyfans.com: https://forensicnews.net/2020/08/13/onlyfans-faces-allegatio...

This has to be the biggest pile of garbage I have ever read.

No doubt the guy is probably not a saint but the article starts with the site being worth "between $810m and $936m." and ends with him pivoting into drug smuggling? according to "xoxgoldenfox"?

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#53

Post by capableweb »

tzs wrote: post #44

How do you find out what payment processor(s) a given site uses? I know that some provide methods whereby a site can have the actual payment entry form served and processed by the payment processor instead of by the site's own server, so you'd be able to see from the user's end where they payment is actually being processed. I've never done a survey, but just anecdotally most sites I've encountered seem to not be usi…

> How do you find out what payment processor(s) a given site uses?

I'm a developer so looking at what kind of request the application is doing when interacting with anything involving payments. In the case of OnlyFans it was easy as they make direct requests to Stripe. In other cases, I've looked at the data structures stored in the current page by using the JS console and compare it to the API docs of various payment processors.

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#54

Post by __ryan__ »

wil421 wrote: post #24
__ryan__ wrote: post #9

Onlyfans is a platform for content subscriptions. It just happens to be a popular platform for adult content. Also, it surely makes them a ton of money.

Right and backpage was just a site for lonely singles looking to connect.

Stripe’s TOS is there to protect itself. They can point to the “no porn” rule if they ever need to cut ties with OnlyFans, but until then, they will reap the benefits of their partnership. It’s a win-win for Stripe.

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#55

Post by capableweb »

therealmarv wrote: post #46

They are NOT using Stripe. Stripe has a no porn rule because they want to go public at some time and everything needs to look clean, also on their customer side. Also their (Stripe) backend banks don't tolerate porn. Also there is not only Stripe out there! Btw. you are in the wrong forum. Look on gfy.com forum for example

> They are NOT using Stripe

Take a look at the requests their frontend is making and you'll see they are indeed using Stripe. At least they were last time I checked.

> Also there is not only Stripe out there!

Indeed, I listed some of the alternatives in my opening question, but is besides the point anyways, here we're discussing Stripe + OnlyFans.

> Btw. you are in the wrong forum.

Judging by the number of upvotes and comments, no, I'm not.

> Look on gfy.com forum for example

Thanks for the pointer, I'll take a look there.

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#56

Post by mrdumas »

Since, I know a friend in this industry, let me explain what's going on here. Yes, OnlyFans uses Stripe, but that's not the entire story.

In the adult/porn world, there's a high amount of chargebacks and fraud relative to low-risk industries like SaaS software. If you pass a certain chargeback threshold in the adult industry, your account is terminated, and no payment processor will do business with you.

To reduce the likelihood of passing that chargeback threshold and being banned, OnlyFans uses "cascading payments", which essentially load balances the payments across multiple payment processors in order to reduce their chargeback ratios across their merchant accounts.

The payment is either processed by Stripe, Securion, CCBill(the leading payment processor for adult), or another company.

Last time I checked the network requests, I noticed it was storing the card on Stripe, CCBill, and Securion, but using CCBill or Securion to process the payment.

I think Stripe is there for models on the site who don't sell adult content. OnlyFans probably does a check to see if the page is adult-related and if it is, then routes it to the correct payment processor.

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#57

Post by edwinwee »

larrik wrote: post #48

That's a good question, since Stripe backed out at the VERY last minute for a customer of mine who sells alcohol over the internet, despite repeated assurances it would be fine.

Stripe can typically support alcohol businesses (assuming they hold the appropriate licenses). Could you get in touch at edwin@stripe.com and we can take another look?

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#58

Post by pessimizer »

nipheld wrote: post #40
everybodyknows wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Weeks before Radvinsky purchased the OnlyFans holding company in the United Kingdom, he received a $250,000 tax credit from the state of Illinois. “The purpose of the Angel Investment Tax Credit Program is to attract and encourage the placement of investment dollars into early-stage, innovative companies throughout Illinois.” Your tax dollars at work.

> Your tax dollars at work ...creating high-tech well-paying jobs in the local area. Is that a problem?

You might think that if you'd never worked for a state finance authority, or for the state of Illinois. It's certainly what's on the press release.

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#59

Post by saagarjha »

wil421 wrote: post #26
im3w1l wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kinda wonder if it isn't the kids doing it with a parents card.

My friend and I were 13 and called 1-900 numbers back when it was popular. We took his moms credit card and changed some numbers around. Eventually a number we made up worked. It was a hilarious moment but I was scared to death we would be found out. Nothing ever happened but somebody got a charge.

Do they not ask for a CVV or any other verification?

Re: Ask HN: How does onlyfans.com work around the “no porn” Stripe rule?

#60

Post by [deleted] »

preinheimer wrote: post #32
adwi wrote: post #22

My understanding is the rules are dictated by Visa/MC/Amex, and are largely based on chargeback risk for categories of merchants. There are likely further legal and pearl-clutchy reasons that combine to just out and out ban. Anecdote: we talked with every payment processor around for a product we were making that involved storing and spending value from a digital wallet. It was close enough to various Visa/MC rules a…

+1 to the rules coming down from Visa & MC. Amex doesn't allow adult. There's a bit more nuance there, as the rules actually come from the bank issuing your merchant account, rather than some master "Visa" entity. So if you're a big player in the adult game you're going to work to find the right banks willing to issue you merchant accounts. Those banks will also have a compliance department which will look at your co…

[deleted]
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