Centurion Payment Services helps porn websites and adult content platforms obtain merchant accounts and payment gateways built for the category — including subscription paysites, VOD platforms, and premium content sites. Processing options are subject to underwriting.
If you run a subscription paysite, video-on-demand platform, or premium porn website, you already know the payments problem: Stripe, PayPal, and Square prohibit adult content outright, and most banks won't underwrite the category. Centurion works with acquiring relationships that do — placing porn websites into dedicated high-risk merchant accounts with gateways that support recurring memberships, one-time purchases, and cross-sales.
A porn website merchant account is not the same as a generic high-risk account. Adult content merchants must be registered with the card networks — Visa's Integrity Risk Program and Mastercard's registration requirements both apply — and acquirers expect specific compliance controls before boarding. We help merchants understand what's required before the application goes in, which saves weeks of back-and-forth in underwriting.
The classification isn't a judgment on your business — it reflects how card networks and acquiring banks price the category's specific risks:
Adult content merchants must be registered as high-integrity-risk merchants with Visa and Mastercard, which carries annual registration fees and ongoing content compliance obligations.
Mastercard requires documented age and consent verification for performers in uploaded content, plus pre-publication review and complaint processes for platforms hosting user-uploaded material.
Cardholders sometimes dispute legitimate charges they don't want on a statement. Discreet-but-recognizable billing descriptors and fast dispute response are essential.
Trial-to-rebill offers and recurring memberships generate more disputes than one-time retail, so acquirers scrutinize billing terms and cancellation flows.
US producers of explicit content are subject to federal record-keeping requirements (18 U.S.C. § 2257). Underwriters expect merchants to understand their obligations.
Many banks decline the category as a matter of policy regardless of a merchant's actual performance — which is why specialized acquiring relationships matter.
Through our processing relationships, porn website merchants can typically access:
Mainstream aggregators prohibit adult content in their acceptable-use policies — this is a published platform rule, not a negotiable underwriting decision. Merchants who onboard anyway (by describing the business vaguely) are usually detected by content monitoring and terminated, often with funds held for 90–180 days. A terminated account can also lead to MATCH list placement, which makes future approvals significantly harder. The correct path is a properly registered adult merchant account from day one.
Centurion Payment Services has spent years placing merchants that mainstream processors decline. For porn websites, that means matching your content model — studio-produced, licensed, or user-uploaded — to acquiring relationships that actually board that model, preparing the compliance documentation underwriters ask for, and structuring billing to keep chargebacks below network thresholds. Availability varies by business model, location, and processing history, and every application is subject to underwriting — we'll tell you honestly what's realistic before you apply.
Adult content underwriting is document-heavy. Having these ready before applying meaningfully shortens approval timelines:
Documentation requirements vary by processing partner and business model. This list is a general guide, not a universal checklist.
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In-depth answers to the questions high-risk merchants ask most.
Every document high-risk underwriters ask for, why they ask, and how to prepare a file that moves quickly.
The dispute lifecycle, prevention tools like alerts and RDR, and how to win representments with compelling evidence.
How rolling, upfront, and capped reserves work, what percentages are typical, and how to negotiate them down over time.
Why merchants land on the Mastercard MATCH list, the reason codes, how long it lasts, and options if you're already listed.
Speak with Centurion Payment Services about your business model and available processing options. Processing options are subject to underwriting and vary by business model, location, and processing history.