Jessica Alves slams Barclays for closing account ‘because of OnlyFans’

Model Jessica Alves has hit out at Barclays bank for closing her account ‘because she has an OnlyFans page’. 

The TV personality signed up to the X-rated subscription site in 2021, a year after she came out as transgender, and uses the page to share racy images and talk with fans. 

Yet last week Jessica received a letter from Barclays informing her that her bank account had been closed ‘in line with recent review’. 

With the letter stating they were unable to offer any more information about the closure, Jessica visited a London branch and had an ‘unpleasant’ talk with a bank manager. 

Jessica told MailOnline: ‘I have banked with Barclays for 22 years and I was told I can’t bank with them anymore because I’m considered a sex worker. I explained that I’m not and that my income comes from my rental properties, tv shows , and brand endorsements.’ 

She insisted: ‘My OnlyFans is purely a fan page where fans have direct access to me. There are some Page 3-style and sensual images but no sex acts or pornography.’ 

A Barclays spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Without our customer’s permission, we are unable to comment on this specific account. 

‘We will only close a customer’s account after careful thought and in line with our product terms and conditions, including where we believe that keeping the account open may cause us to breach laws or regulations, some of which are to prevent financial crime. 

‘We do not take this decision lightly, understanding the difficulties that having banking services withdrawn can cause.’

Jessica’s claim comes after campaigners slammed banks for ‘waging’ war on Britain’s adult industry by closing and freezing the accounts of sex workers and escorts. 

Financial firms have been warned they could be making sex workers more vulnerable to being exploited financially by denying them access to banking services. 

It comes after the issue of debanking was brought into the public eye by Nigel Farage, after the politician had his account closed by private bank Coutts.

However, the issue is believed to also affect thousands of ordinary people and business, including the adult industry which sees more than 72,000 people make money through selling sexual services.

The vast majority of the people in this industry are women, one of whom has launched a petition demanding MPs ensure they have access to banking services. It has since gained 11,000 signatures.

Sex work and brothel-keeping is illegal in England and Wales, although selling and buying sexual services itself is not against the law.

People who work in the sex industry have to pay income tax on their earnings, insiders at HMRC say it cannot be certain how many adult workers actually do this as they tend to file under a code that’s used by a number of different industries.

The Sex Workers Union (SWU) and Decrim Now, a campaign group which calls for the full decriminalisation of sex work in Britain, say that more than 80 per cent of (SWU) members have fallen victim to similar scenarios.

UK Finance, the trade body for Britain’s financial institutions, told the FT that the freezing or closing of accounts was often done based on risk analysis and regulations.

A spokesperson said: ‘While banking the proceeds of sex work is not a criminal offence, the potential related risks are very high.

‘Lenders will make a decision about this based on their own risk appetite, but only after extensive review and investigation.’

Banks say they have a responsibility to monitor and stop financial crimes, including sex trafficking, but one expert claims that these actions can sometimes increase the chances of sex workers coming to harm.

Earlier this year a parliamentary committee found that more than 140,000 businesses in Britain had their bank accounts closed in just one year.

The Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates Britain’s banking industry, has launched a review of how lenders are closing accounts.

The most prolific alleged ‘debanker’ was NatWest, with 574 customers (19.2 per cent) claiming to have lost their accounts, with another 57 at Coutts coming forward. 

Some 412 with Barclays (13.8 per cent), 245 with HSBC (8.2 per cent) and 172 with Lloyds (5.8 per cent) are also alleged to have lost their accounts.

The FCA is continuing to look into bank account closures and said in September last year it is working with firms ‘to better understand the reasons behind, for example, the closure of accounts due to reputational risk.’

It added: ‘By far the most common reasons providers gave for closing, suspending or declining an account was because it was inactive/dormant or because there were concerns about financial crime.’