Mastercard and Visa have been under scrutiny after a US informer stated their failure to prevent their payment networks from laundering proceeds from minors’ abuse material on OnlyFans.
The informer, a senior compliance expert in the credit card and banking sectors, alleged in a complaint filed with the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the US Justice and Homeland Security departments in January 2023 that Mastercard and Visa were aware that their networks were being leveraged to pay for illegal content on the adult website since at least 2021. The individual accused the two card companies of overlooking the flows of illicit revenue.
Turning a blind eye to suspicious transactions
As part of the complaint, the whistleblower and other anti-trafficking experts, including US federal agents, informed Visa and Mastercard about the illegal content on OnlyFans in several calls in 2021 and 2022, with them confirming the presence of minor abuse material on the website. The accusation also included a 2022 study, to which the whistleblower contributed, that revealed a high volume of OnlyFans accounts with common indicators of such content.
Moreover, the complaint underlined that Visa and Mastercard process payments between content creators and their customers on OnlyFans and, if the content is minor abuse material, the two card companies directly manage the proceeds of these transactions. The whistleblower urged FinCEN and the other federal agencies to take measures against Mastercard and Visa as, by allowing them to continue to process payments on OnlyFans, the two failed to implement effective AML programmes required by the Bank Secrecy Act.
According to Reuters, which reviewed an email confirming FinCEN has actually received the complaint, the agency did neither deny nor confirm the existence of whistleblower complaints, while the Justice and Homeland Security departments refused to comment on the matter. After not being able to determine whether any action was taken by the agencies in response to the complaint, Reuters assessed the complaint, interviewed the informed on condition of anonymity, and confirmed their identity and credentials. The news agency interviewed the whistleblower, who stated that they were never contacted by any regulatory body regarding the accusations.
When it comes to Mastercard and Visa, the two card companies mentioned that they disputed the complaint’s allegations and underlined their efforts to maintain their networks free of illicit activities. Commenting on this, a Visa spokesperson stated that financial institutions and merchants that do not adhere to the company’s compliance requirements are set to be excluded from its network. At the same time, Mastercard’s representatives denied the company’s failure to maintain effective AML programmes.
However, OnlyFans did not respond to any requests for comment about the whistleblower’s complaint. The company mentions on its website that it imposes a zero-tolerance policy against any content about minor abuse and immediately blocks or takes down materials that violate its rules. Additionally, OnlyFans underlines that it reports any illegal content to law enforcement and child-protection groups.
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