Rentmen Not Currently Accepting Visa

[BuffaloKyle]

I just tried to purchase a premium membership for RM with my visa but a box popped up stating they are only accepting mastercard at this time. I reached out to support to ask about this and got this back:

Hello, Logan here. We are working to find possible solutions, but for the time being we accept only MasterCard and Bitcoins.

I hope it's just temporary. So if anyone has a recurring payment set up and due soon with their visa you might see your membership stopped.

[Hot4latin]

One of my regular massage providers told me the same thing about his RentMasseur account. His ad is expired until he can get a MasterCard. 

[BuffaloKyle]

25 minutes ago, Hot4latin said:

One of my regular massage providers told me the same thing about his RentMasseur account. His ad is expired until he can get a MasterCard. 

What stinks is I used to only have an American Express so couldn't get a membership until I got a Visa once they stopped taking my Amex and now they don't take that either.

[+ azdr0710]

I'm using a Visa with them......I don't mind adding a MC, but now wonder if this'll cancel my grandfathered-in $9.95/mo rate.......and I wonder if some group got to Visa for "enabling" a "porn" site

Edited August 13 by azdr0710

[BuffaloKyle]

18 hours ago, azdr0710 said:

I'm using a Visa with them......I don't mind adding a MC, but now wonder if this'll cancel my grandfathered-in $9.95/mo rate.......and I wonder if some group got to Visa for "enabling" a "porn" site

I don't know if it's because I sign up for a premium membership every so often but every time I sign up for a new membership I get the 9.95 rate. When I'm not logged in it says it costs 19.95 but when I log in it changes to 9.95 to sign up.

[Simon Suraci]

Same happened to me this week. RentMen (and RentMasseur, same company) suddenly stopped taking Visa card payments. No warning, nothing. They expired my ad because my recurring membership payment won’t process. It’s Mastercard, bitcoin, or tough luck.

This move is mostly a money grab giving Mastercard exclusivity and RentMen/RentMasseur a discount on payment processing fees. The official story from the webmaster to me is they dropped Visa to comply with new regulatory requirements. Even if that’s true, it’s purely incidental. Yes, payment processors are running for the hills away from anything that looks like it enables or endorses criminal activity, but even legal things including fan site content and traditional porn. Just look at a lot of the updated terms and conditions over the past 6-12 months. You have to read the text. They don’t put it in the summaries and highlights emails.

The moral police are coming down hard on this and related industries. I’m all for stopping human trafficking, but you can never eliminate the sex work trade by legislation, social norms or peer pressure. Wherever demand and supply exist, so does a market. I digress…maybe save that for related threads.

Imagine how timely all this action is with the election coming up in 3 months…ok I’ll stop there before getting too political.

We all know RM prioritizes their bottom line above everything else. They forced me to put pictures in my private gallery last month, for example. The pictures weren’t even nude, but they deemed them x-rated. It was simply to add content to a gallery that members would have to buy a membership to view. I send pics when requested, but it’s just a way for RM to squeeze more $ out of both clients escorts. Lame.

The dropping Visa without warning debacle sent me into a tailspin because I don’t use MasterCard or bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency. I’m on an extended road trip and some of the cities I’m visiting over the next few weeks are new to me…so no existing clients to rely on or reach out to. It’s purely advertising I have to go on to fill my books. I freaked out.

I scrambled to a grocery store in Columbus yesterday in the little free time I had left to get a Mastercard gift card. RM will let me upload the card because it recognizes that it’s a Mastercard, but it still won’t process the payment, presumably because it’s a prepaid type. F*ck me.

I managed this morning to apply for, and receive a new MasterCard with one of my financial institutions. Fortunately I got a digital card I can use until I receive the physical card in the mail.

As of this morning, my RentMasseur and RentMen recurring payments are switched over to the new MC. Fingers crossed they don’t go exclusively to crypto without notice. Then I would really be screwed.

Crypto is problematic in so many ways. Fine if RM wants to offer the option, but forcing us to use cryptocurrency would make me quit the platform tbh. 

This whole thing is exhausting.

[Vin Marco]

I just got a response from RM telling me that visa restrictions have been lifted and that I'm free to use my visa. The fates and pleasure gods have favored us....

[BuffaloKyle]

5 hours ago, Vin Marco said:

I just got a response from RM telling me that visa restrictions have been lifted and that I'm free to use my visa. The fates and pleasure gods have favored us....

Not working for me. Still getting the box that only mastercard for now.

[Vin Marco]

1 hour ago, BuffaloKyle said:

Not working for me. Still getting the box that only mastercard for now.

That's a pity 😕. Sorry you're still having issues. For whatever it's worth, did you sign out and sign back in?   You may want to contact them again and ask them if the visa issue has been resolved and see what response you get. 
My recurring monthly bill just processed last week. I contacted them today and I  explained what I had been reading about because I only have Amex and Visa(s) and using cryptocurrency doesn't hold my interest...

I got a very friendly and prompt reply and I was told that restrictions on my account had been removed and that I could continue to use my Visa card. I hope that you can get it sorted soon 🤞🏽

[BuffaloKyle]

17 minutes ago, Vin Marco said:

That's a pity 😕. Sorry you're still having issues. For whatever it's worth, did you sign out and sign back in?   You may want to contact them again and ask them if the visa issue has been resolved and see what response you get. 

Yeah, not working. What's really weird too is if I pick a different country other than USA it'll take the number and pop up the visa card logo but once I change it back to USA it shuts me down. I'll give it a few days and then maybe reach out to them again. Not a big deal.

[moonlight]

Simon, what are your concerns using bitcoin for RM?

I ask because I have zero experience with crypto but am considering trying it for RM. I'm wondering if it's maybe more private than using a credit card.

There's also privacy.com but that doesn't let you select MC over Visa.

[+ DynamicUno]

The idea that RM is somehow doing a money grab by restricting payments to MC or Bitcoin doesn't make sense.  They need to be able to accept payments by any means their customers can use.  They are an adult content site, however, and that category of merchant has a higher risk of fraud and chargebacks.  This puts them at risk of getting banned by the CC processors.  If Visa put them on notice, it's probable RM is limiting their risk by restricting new payment methods to MC instead to avoid a total ban by Visa.  RM could use third party solutions to better insulate themselves from this problem, but I'm guessing they are avoiding those solutions for other reasons.

As far as Bitcoin is concerned, it's fairly easy to use if you're already set up, but might be a little daunting if you're new to using it.  Bitcoin is more private than with credit cards, but it's not absolute.  Crypto forensics is a thing and law enforcement can track bitcoin transactions, but they're mostly looking for fraud and drug related activity.

[Simon Suraci]

I’m guessing it will take some time for RM to switch the site back to accept Visa card payments again. That, or they are making exceptions for their most loyal clients and best reviewed providers. RM responded to me by comping a month of membership to reactivate my ad and give me time to get a MasterCard before my next membership payment becomes due.

@moonlight the cryptocurrency discussion is on other threads, so I don’t want to derail this topic, but here is a bit on my feelings about crypto:

1) is not at all private. Forensics are easy to do for anyone with a cause. The ledger is public. You don’t even need a warrant to gain access or analyze. Your crypto account is tied to your identity.

2) offers no consumer protection. Once it’s transferred, it’s gone. There is no insurance, and no company willing to reimburse you for a loss when something goes wrong. Say you paid for goods or services but never received them. That money you sent you can’t dispute or ever get back.

3) the government tracks your crypto holdings. Remember, all crypto is tied to your identity, and the government knows who you are. You may as well be on a criminal watchlist, especially if you fail to report your crypto holdings or fail to pay taxes on crypto earnings. IRS tax forms now have a line asking directly if you hold crypto.

4) crypto is not yet widely accepted or used. Money is only good as a means of exchange when you can use it everywhere (or nearly everywhere). While this may change, for now, it makes crypto essentially worthless as money, unless you go out of your way to only use merchants who accept crypto.

5) Holding any amount of crypto may as well be a sign on your back asking the government to investigate you. No thanks.

6) Crypto is highly volatile compared to real money. Real money has its problems, and it’s not perfectly stable, but real money is more stable than crypto. For this reason, people hold it for a long time hoping to someday cash out. They treat it as an appreciable asset, like a house. You can’t pay for groceries with your house, and you aren’t taking out a second mortgage on your house to pay for your monthly water bill.

[BuffaloKyle]

21 hours ago, Simon Suraci said:

RM responded to me by comping a month of membership

Lucky! They only gave me a 3 day free membership when I complained! 😅

[Simon Suraci]

As of today, the Visa option is still unavailable. One of my clients confirmed on his end. If the Visa option comes back online at all, it will probably be a while. Some users are able to still use Visa, but I’m guessing those are one off exceptions.

Who on earth could deny our boy, Danny? 🤣 

[Simon Suraci]

On a related note:

CashApp no longer supports business accounts, according to a notice I received today. Strictly peer-to-peer now. I guess I have to strike that off my list of accepted payments since I have to report my earnings via payment processors as business income. CashApp is one example of industry wide shifts in policy and regulations. It won’t be long before Venmo and others do the same.

Apple Cash (aka Apple Pay) now imposes stricter limits on transactions. More lax if you register (10k/week), or $500/week if you don’t register. Register, meaning: tie your social security number to your account so the IRS and other agencies can monitor you more closely, which puts you more at risk of audits and criminal investigations.

Any payments tied to your personal payment processing accounts are subject to investigation since they look like (and ARE) business income. Business accounts you pay taxes on payments received. All above board. Even my Apple Cash payments transfer to my business checking account, which I then pay taxes on.

Since they’re limiting our options and preventing us from processing payments legitimately, they’re effectively pushing us more and more toward using cash, of which anyone might only report a portion (or none!). I don’t like that.

You can’t legislate our industry away. It exists. Might as well let us pay taxes on our incomes, which benefits everyone in the end. Enforce human trafficking laws. Do not enforce moral attitudes regarding what consenting adults do privately.

[+ jeezopete]

Just got a notice that my recurring payment was successful today. Checked my VISA account online & the payment was listed.

[BuffaloKyle]

On 8/25/2024 at 10:36 PM, jeezopete said:

Just got a notice that my recurring payment was successful today. Checked my VISA account online & the payment was listed.

Just tried typing in my visa number but no luck. Still says not accepted. Stinks!

[MikeBiDude]

My regular monthly auto-renew just went through on my Visa.

[BuffaloKyle]

When you go under one time payment it lets you input a visa credit card number if you put the country as say Canada. I wonder if it would accept the transaction then even if you're in the USA.