this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe warned of debanking consequences (www.bankingdive.com)
submitted 7 hours ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
23 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The CEOs of Visa, Mastercard, PayPal Holdings and Stripe received letters Thursday from Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, who demanded they not discriminate against customers based on political or religious grounds.

The FTC threatened enforcement action if customers are denied services for those reasons.

Any act to “deplatform customers or deny them access to financial products or services” may violate the Federal Trade Commission Act and “could lead to an FTC investigation and potential enforcement action,” the agency said in a Thursday press release. The FTC didn’t cite any specific infractions by the companies.

The commission is typically made up of five members, but has just two at the moment. President Donald Trump last fired two of the Democrats who sat on the commission.

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[–] LuxSpark@lemmy.cafe 34 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Has this actually happened, or just playing the victim again?

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 21 points 7 hours ago (2 children)
[–] Tim_Bisley@piefed.social 43 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

The OCC expressed concern that, between 2020 and 2025, the banks restricted access or required “escalated reviews and approvals before providing … access” to certain customers with connections to oil and gas, coal, firearms, private prisons, tobacco, payday lending, adult entertainment, digital assets or political action committees and political parties.

It’s that last part that, presumably, spurred President Donald Trump in January to accuse Bank of America – while its CEO was on stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland – of debanking conservatives.

[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 9 points 7 hours ago

"We called ourselves the MOD Squad, short for Merchants of Death."

Looks like Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms have a whole new set of friends.

[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Ah yes. When i read the fascist FTC head sent the letter — a criminal who threatens antifascist media for political speech — I was certain consequences will only apply to debanking fascists.

[–] LuxSpark@lemmy.cafe 3 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Thanks, but that article doesn’t mention too many specifics either. I am going to assume that if someone was denied service it’s because they are criminals, not conservatives. The line is blurry though.

[–] halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 14 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

There was a big deal last year after Mastercard and Visa threatened the indie game site itch.io for allowing adult games, after a single complaint from an Australian anti-porn group.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/29/mastercard-visa-backlash-adult-games-removed-online-stores-steam-itchio-ntwnfb

Payment processors shouldn't be gatekeepers of what we can buy. They should just process the payments and take their cut for being a middleman.

[–] GreenShimada@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago

Realistically, it's likely that someone with money was denied access, and used their money to hire lobbyists to make this a political problem.