How We Bank Adult Entertainment Companies: Onboarding an Erotic Wrestling Brand the Right Way

When you work in the adult space, you learn very quickly that banking and payments are not neutral. The same business model that fills a venue, pays performers and delivers entertainment to paying adults will often trigger a knee-jerk “no” from banks and payment providers, simply because it sits under the “adult” label. An erotic wrestling company is a perfect example: perfectly legal, clearly for adults, but still classed as high-risk by most financial institutions.

From the outside, this can feel unfair. You have a registered company, contracts, staff, accountants and tax filings – yet your payment accounts keep getting shut down or blocked. From our side, sitting as a regulated MSB, the picture looks different. We have to answer to our own regulator, our banking partners and card networks. That means we can’t pretend an adult business is the same as a café or a consulting firm. But it also doesn’t mean we treat every adult business as if it were illegal or abusive. The difference is the work our compliance team does in between those two extremes.

The first thing to understand is that adult activity is almost always classified as “high-risk” in financial services. That doesn’t mean “criminal”; it means the sector is more vulnerable to chargebacks, disputes, reputational concerns and potential misuse than standard retail. For us, the question is not “Is it adult?” but “Is it legal, transparent and something we can explain and defend?” For an erotic wrestling company, that means looking carefully at what actually happens in the business: in-person events, streamed content, ticket sales, subscriptions, merchandising, and how performers are contracted and paid. The more clearly we can see that this is a structured entertainment company with clear boundaries, the easier it is to onboard.

This is where the Compliance Officer comes in. Their job is to look at the company in detail and decide whether it fits within our risk appetite and our partners’ rules. They are responsible for the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing program, but in practice their job is broader: they design the onboarding process, set documentation standards, define which adult profiles we can support and which we can’t, and decide what controls and limits should be attached to each relationship. When an erotic wrestling business applies to open an account, it is the Compliance Officer who ultimately signs off that “yes, this structure, activity and client profile are acceptable for us – under these conditions”.

From the client’s perspective, this translates into more detailed questions during onboarding. For a company like this, we will ask for incorporation documents, ownership and management details, and a clear description of the business model. We will want to see how revenues are earned: ticket sales at events, online subscriptions, pay-per-view streams, content licensing, sponsorships or other channels. We will ask whether there is any third-party platform involved (for example, content sold via another adult platform), and how those platforms handle their own age verification and compliance. We will ask how performers are engaged – whether as employees, contractors or through agencies – and how they are paid.

We will also look at jurisdictional questions. Where is the company incorporated? Where are the events held? Where are the customers located? Where are the performers based? Some countries are simply off-limits for us because of sanctions, local laws or card scheme policies. If an erotic wrestling company is producing content or selling tickets in a country where adult entertainment is illegal or highly restricted, we may not be able to process those flows at all. Part of the Compliance Officer’s job is to map the business against these jurisdictional rules and work out whether a workable model exists within our constraints.

Another key element is understanding the boundaries of the content and services. We are not here to judge taste, but we do have to enforce some absolute lines. We will not onboard any company involved in non-consensual activity, exploitation or anything that would be illegal or abusive under the laws of the countries where the business operates or where we are regulated. With an erotic wrestling company, that means we will want to see that participants are adults, that consent is properly documented, that there are clear rules about what is and is not allowed in performances, and that there are policies in place around safety and welfare. We may ask to review standard performer contracts, show guidelines or platform terms of use. That might feel intrusive, but it is how we demonstrate that this is a legitimate entertainment business rather than something we should refuse.

Once we are satisfied that the structure and activity are within our risk appetite, we then look at how to configure the account in a way that keeps everyone safe. This is where risk-based onboarding becomes visible to the client. We might approve a multi-currency business account with specific corridors (for example, EU, UK and North America) while excluding certain high-risk regions. We might allow card acquiring for ticket sales and subscriptions, but not for certain higher-risk product types. We will set realistic limits based on the company’s size and growth plans, and we will agree up front what “normal” volumes and patterns look like for that business. All of this is captured in our internal file so that we can explain those decisions later if needed.

Pricing is another place where high-risk status shows up. Onboarding an adult business, especially one that sells digital access and subscriptions, involves more monitoring and more complex decisions than onboarding a consultancy firm. The Compliance Officer and their team will spend more time reviewing documents, assessing flows, answering questions from banks and card schemes, and tuning monitoring rules to catch suspicious activity without constantly blocking legitimate transactions. That extra work has to be paid for somehow, which is why adult businesses often see higher fees or tiered pricing. It is not a penalty for existing; it is a reflection of the resources required to onboard and maintain a high-risk client responsibly.

Once the account is live, compliance does not stop. For an erotic wrestling company, we will continue to monitor transactions against the expected profile: ticket sales, subscription charges, payouts to performers, refunds and chargebacks. If we suddenly see a spike in traffic from a new, higher-risk country, or a change in business model that has not been discussed with us, the Compliance Officer may ask questions or temporarily tighten controls while we understand what has changed. We may ask for updated documents periodically or when there are material changes in ownership, management or activity. From the client perspective, this can feel like recurring friction, but it is these checks that allow us to maintain a stable banking relationship in a sector where many providers simply refuse to play.

The benefit for the client is long-term stability. Adult businesses are used to accounts being opened quickly on generous promises and then closed just as quickly when the provider’s risk team or a partner bank gets nervous. Our approach is slower at the front, but designed to avoid that whiplash. When we onboard an erotic wrestling company, we want to be confident that we can support them over time, not just until the next internal review. That means spelling out what we can and cannot do, understanding the reality of the business, and pricing and limiting the relationship in a way that both sides can live with.

If you run an adult business and are considering working with an MSB like ours, the most important thing you can do is approach us with openness and detail. Be ready to explain your model in plain terms, share the documents that show you operate legally and responsibly, and talk honestly about your customer base and growth plans. The Compliance Officer’s job is not to make your life difficult; it is to build a case for why you are a client we can safely support. The better the information we have, the stronger that case can be.

In an industry where banking and payments are often the weakest link, a serious compliance process is not your enemy. For an erotic wrestling company, it is the difference between another short-term, fragile account and a banking relationship built on clear understanding, defined boundaries and mutual trust.

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