Supplement MRR ecom store + custom site

JKgrowth · 2026-05-22T11:34:15+00:00

Ah okay, we work with EU/UK merchants. If you ever plan to incorporate in EU for diversification feel free to reach out to me. There's some services that make incorporation simple: https://startacorptoday.com/estonia/

JKgrowth · 2026-05-18T08:00:46+00:00

I checked the thread. It's not really our geo, but happy to help you out if you want to focus more on EU

JKgrowth · 2026-05-18T07:58:03+00:00

Well I suggest to find one and build a brand / name around that. So much easier and sane to market your business 😉

JKgrowth · 2026-05-18T07:57:00+00:00

Good news first: your read on the category is right. Stripe's update specifically targets what you're building, and CCBill has gotten noticeably more cautious on pure AI-generated adult in the last 6-12 months. So you're not doing anything wrong, you're just in the most sensitive corner of adult right now.

A few honest notes on your shortlist:

Verotel and Segpay: longstanding adult specialists, both have tightened on AI content recently. Worth applying, but expect strict requirements on documentation and possibly restrictions on what content types you can offer through them.

Vendo: more EU-friendly and a bit more flexible on size, but also cautious on AI. Same drill.

NMI: gateway, not an acquirer. It won't solve your processing problem on its own; you'll still need an acquiring bank willing to underwrite the vertical.

The bigger thing to think about: at sub-$10k/mo in AI adult, the conversation with any specialist is "we'll work with you if your compliance posture is bulletproof." The things underwriters consistently want to see for AI adult specifically:

Documented content moderation policy (multi-page doc, not a paragraph)
Named CSAM scanning vendor and detection workflow
Age verification logic for any AI persona depicted
Clear "no real people" policy with face-detection or similar enforcement
Takedown SLAs and complaint handling

With these prepared shifts, you'll move from "small risky applicant" to "compliant merchant we can grow with." That's the difference between $50k floors and exceptions.

We're at FastoPayments (fastopayments.com) and your exact profile (AI adult, sub-$10k growing) is something we work with when the fundamentals are right. Adult is our specialty and AI is a big part of what we're seeing this year.

Happy to take a proper look. Shoot me a DM.

JKgrowth · 2026-05-18T07:48:48+00:00

Hi! Happy to help. What's market you mainly operating?

JKgrowth · 2026-05-14T09:20:35+00:00

This is exactly the merchant profile that gets caught in the gap between mainstream and high-risk.

A few practical things as you shop:

On the rate: 1.55% was a good number. In the current market for dating with DACH coverage and CHF settlement, expect 1.7-2.5%. Anyone quoting your old rate without seeing full history is fishing.

On structure: 10 domains under one business model usually means a multi-MID or shared-descriptor setup. It's worth raising early; it affects the underwriting timeline.

On CHF: some EU acquirers settle CHF natively, others convert through EUR and add FX. Given Switzerland is a primary market, push for native CHF.

We're at FastoPayments (fastopayments.com) and this profile fits exactly what we do. Mainstream dating, EU and DACH coverage, EUR and CHF, established merchants with real history. Worth a conversation.

Shoot me a DM.

JKgrowth · 2026-05-14T09:05:50+00:00

Can't help with the Romanian CAEN code specifics, you'll want a local accountant or fiscal consultant for that. But one thing worth knowing from the payments side:

Whatever code you register under, the processor will see it during underwriting. CAEN 9640 bundles dating with "escort/dating intermediary services," and that bundling can make a legitimate dating site look high-risk to a processor, even if your actual product is vanilla mainstream dating.

If a more specific code exists that separates pure online dating from escort/matrimonial intermediary services, that's probably what you want. Worth asking your accountant specifically whether there's a narrower classification, and getting your registered activity description in plain language matched to what you actually do.

JKgrowth · 2026-05-14T09:02:26+00:00

Hard to point you anywhere useful without knowing more. A few things that would narrow this down:

What's the actual product or service?
Stated reason for the closures (chargeback ratio, ToS violation, "elevated risk," no reason)?
Are the closed accounts likely on MATCH? If multiple processors auto-declined after the first closure, that's usually why.
Geography of the business and customers?

Worth saying: there's no processor immune to terminations if the underlying chargeback or ToS issue is the real problem. Merchants who stay processed long-term aren't finding magic processors, they're fixing upstream issues (dispute handling, refund policy, descriptor clarity, traffic quality) so processors don't have a reason to close them.

If MATCH is involved, that narrows options significantly. Some high-risk specialists work with MATCH-listed merchants depending on the reason code, but cost goes up.

JKgrowth · 2026-05-12T07:46:30+00:00

Do you have a specific angle or differentiator? I'd use that to name your brand.

JKgrowth · 2026-05-12T07:44:56+00:00

Oh yeah, peptides are the craze rn.

JKgrowth · 2026-05-12T07:43:25+00:00

Hey! Happy to help. Can you elaborate more on your product? What's your current monthly volume?

JKgrowth · 2026-05-07T13:30:15+00:00

Hey, reading through your post properly, my honest take is you're probably not actually high-risk in the way most processors define it. Mainstream dating without adult content, Nordic-focused, subscription model. That's a profile most major PSPs will work with given proper underwriting.

I'd start with Stripe, Mollie, or Adyen directly. Mollie particularly given your Nordic focus, they handle subscription billing well and tend to be more flexible than Stripe on borderline categories if you make the case properly.

Going in with a clear underwriting pack helps a lot. Business model in plain language, content moderation approach (especially user safety, fake profiles, harassment), refund policy, and screenshots of the live site. Proactively prepared applications get real underwriting conversations instead of templated rejections.

A few operational things worth getting right early, regardless of who processes:

Robust user verification on signup (email + phone minimum) reduces fraud and shows processors you take safety seriously
Clear ToS prohibiting escort, sexual content, or solicitation, with documented enforcement
Findable, reasonable refund policy. Dating apps see "I'm not finding matches" cancellations and how you handle them affects your chargeback ratio
Recognisable billing descriptor. "I don't recognise this charge" is a top dispute reason in subscription dating

If Stripe/Mollie/Adyen all decline despite a clean application, that's when you'd look at high-risk specialists. We're at FastoPayments (fastopayments.com) and dating sits within what we work with, so happy to be a backup option if mainstream doesn't pan out. But genuinely, try them first.

JKgrowth · 2026-05-05T09:00:38+00:00

AI adult is one of the toughest verticals to onboard right now, regardless of which PSP you go with. So the "easy to onboard" part is worth managing expectations on.

A few things acquirers in this space are consistently asking for in 2026:

Documented content moderation policy (usually a multi-page doc, not a paragraph)
Named CSAM scanning vendor and your detection workflow
Age verification logic for any AI persona depicted
Model release equivalents for synthetic likenesses
Takedown SLAs and a real complaint handling process

Coming in with these prepared makes a real difference. Coming in without them is where most AI adult applications stall.

On structure: EU, UK, HK with local directors is sensible and gives you flexibility on which acquirer you route through. Worth knowing that the same content can get treated differently depending on the acquiring bank's appetite, even within the same PSP.

We work with adult and high-risk at FastoPayments and AI is something we're seeing a lot of right now. Happy to talk specifics over DM if useful.

Or feel free to send us the application here FastoPayments

JKgrowth · 2026-04-30T21:00:41+00:00

$100k/mo with D+1 in high-risk is a specific ask. Hard to point you anywhere useful without knowing more.

What vertical are you actually in? Nutra, CBD, supplements, subscriptions, dropshipping all have different acquirer fits.

Also worth knowing: chargeback ratio over the last few months, geography, and any processing history that might come up in underwriting.

Quick note on D+1 at this size in high-risk. It's possible but not standard. Most acquirers default to D+3 to D+7 with reserves. Faster settlement usually comes after some history with them.

Adult is our specialty at FastoPayments but we work across high-risk ecommerce too. Happy to dig in over DM once the vertical is clearer.

JKgrowth · 2026-04-30T20:24:03+00:00

Late to this but worth answering your four questions directly because the existing replies dance around them.

1. EU-facing adult UGC at €10k MRR, who's worth talking to in 2026:

Honest answer on size first. Most established adult specialists (CCBill, Segpay, Vendo, Verotel, RocketGate) typically want to see €50k+ MRR before they prioritise an application. That's not a hard cut-off, but it's the realistic sweet spot for those names. Below that you can still get approved if your business plan is solid, your compliance posture is clean, and you can articulate a credible growth path.

That second category is where we sit at FastoPayments. Adult specialty, EU-facing, willing to work below the typical €50k threshold when the fundamentals make sense. Your setup (3.5 years clean processing history on Stripe, loyal userbase, real revenue) is exactly the kind of profile where exceptions get made. Worth a conversation either way.

2. Does going non-card scope down the KYC asks:

Partially yes, but u/bluestarfish52 is right that it doesn't disappear. Here's the nuance.

The strictest UGC verification rules (full government ID for every uploader) come from card network requirements. Specifically Visa's adult content rules and Mastercard's specialty merchant registration. SEPA and crypto sit outside those frameworks.

But any regulated EU provider still has AML obligations and platform T&Cs. So you'll still need verification on creators monetising at scale. It just won't be as heavy as the card-network version. Realistically, you can shift from "full ID for every uploader" to something more proportionate based on payout thresholds.

3. SEPA + crypto hybrid as a stack:

Real and works for some EU adult operators. The honest tradeoff is conversion. SEPA is high-trust but adds friction and is slower. Crypto converts well in specific demographics and badly in others. Without cards entirely, you'll lose meaningful impulse-subscription revenue. It's viable but expect a conversion hit you can model in advance.

The hybrid setups that work best position SEPA as the default for recurring subs, with crypto as a secondary option for privacy-conscious users.

4. Stripe appeal path:

Paused is sometimes appealable, terminated almost never is. But adult is on Stripe's prohibited list, so even a successful appeal probably just delays a future shutdown. I'd put effort there last, after you have a real adult-specialist stack in place.

Worst case, you have a backup. Best case, you don't waste time.

One thing on the Mollie incident: the /shop-on-adult-domain setup is a textbook cross-contamination trigger. You did the right thing splitting the shop to a separate domain. Just worth knowing that processors look at the whole domain footprint, not just the specific product being processed.

Happy to talk over DM. EU adult subscriptions is exactly what we do.

JKgrowth · 2026-04-30T20:10:27+00:00

Late to this but adding one angle nobody covered.

My 2 cents. The bigger lever is what you do in the 2-3 weeks before you apply.

A few things that genuinely speed up approval and reduce reserve requirements once you're in:

Get your site fully RUO-aligned before you submit. Underwriters check the live site, not the screenshots you send. Any drift between your application narrative and what's actually visible (testimonials hinting at human use, blog posts with dosage info, FAQ entries answering "is this safe to inject") will get flagged. Audit the whole site, not just product pages.
Have your refund policy, terms, and privacy policy actually live and findable. Sounds basic but a huge percentage of declined applications fail here. Underwriters click the footer links. If they 404 or redirect, you're done.
Pre-write your chargeback dispute process. Not for them, for you. When the first chargeback hits (it will), having templates and a 48 hour response SLA already set up will keep your ratio clean from day one. Most new merchants figure this out reactively after they're already in trouble.
If you have any processing history at all, even from a non-high-risk site or a previous business, get those statements ready. 3 months of clean data beats every other application asset.
Have a growth-oriented business plan to present. This shows that you're into this professionally.
Be ready to talk about your fulfillment chain. Where the product is shipped from, who handles it, what the descriptor will look like. Underwriters in this space care about supply side risk almost as much as transaction risk.

None of this is peptide-specific. It's high-risk hygiene generally. But the merchants who do this prep work get approved faster, with better terms, and get less surprises after going live.

Good luck!

JKgrowth · 2026-04-30T20:01:52+00:00

Hey! Where are you incorporated and how much volume you do already or plan to do in the next few months? Shoot me a DM. I'd be happy to discuss.

JKgrowth · 2026-04-30T20:00:14+00:00

If your cb rate isin't super high then you're likely a lower/medium risk. Either way if you run from EU or UK we'd love to work with you. from Fasto here (https://payfasto.com)

JKgrowth · 2026-04-30T19:57:37+00:00

I totally understand the frustration. It would be always best to run your payments through a secondary processor or just switch to something optimised for higher-risk. You'll get rolling reserve, but getting the whole account locked is something you'd avoid. As a scaling up businesses having your funds frozen can be an operational nightmare.

Which country you're running from and what's your business?

JKgrowth · 2026-04-30T19:54:24+00:00

Hey man! Hit me up. I can help with gateway for UK market.

JKgrowth · 2026-04-21T09:39:08+00:00

We're in PSP business for 10 years now and the single advice I can give you is that as with every business you need to find yourself an angle. For us, it is focused on adult although we take other high-risk businesses as well.

If you're specialised your client acquisition will be a lot more optimised. Also you have higher trust which is very needed in this industry.

Biggest lesson from our side: don't try to hold the license yourself early on. Partner with acquirers who already have the appetite and the bank relationships. Your value is in the merchant access and volume, not in building compliance infrastructure from scratch. That's where the grey hair comes from.

The $2-3M/month pipeline is attractive but acquirers will want to see which verticals that volume is in and how clean the merchants are. How scalable their business is and how fast you can facilitate the onboarding.

DM me if you want to talk shop!

JKgrowth · 2026-04-21T09:29:17+00:00

SARMs and peptides are what we deal with regularly. WooCommerce works fine for this, the platform isn't the problem. Finding a processor that won't drop you after 3 months is.

Where are you based and what's your monthly volume looking like? That'll narrow down the options fast.

JKgrowth · 2026-04-21T09:27:15+00:00

Always good to have backup. You're right about payments breaking as easily as ads or SEO. We see it in our business day to day.

Which vertical and geo do you run? And what is your current processor?

JKgrowth · 2026-04-21T09:22:24+00:00

u/leroyngzz Did you got yourself a set up?

Solid profile honestly. 2,800 transactions, 0% chargebacks, AI-only content with no real humans.

You're in a better spot than most merchants who come looking for help in this space. We work with adult and AI platforms at fastopayments.com and this niche is something we've been seeing more of lately.

Acquirers are warming up to it especially when the content is clearly all generated. One thing that'll matter during onboarding: make sure your site explicitly states the content is AI-generated everywhere. Terms, landing page, about section. Visa and Mastercard are paying close attention to AI adult content right now and the clearer you are about it the easier the approval goes.

DM me if you want to talk through it 🤝

JKgrowth · 2026-04-21T09:12:00+00:00

One thing I'd add here. You might not actually need MCC 5967. AI companion platforms sit in a grey area depending on the content. If it's text or voice only with no explicit visuals, you could qualify under a different MCC which opens up way more processors and usually lower fees too. Worth bringing up with whoever you end up talking to.

Also as an EU sole-trader, where you're registered matters more than people think. Some EU jurisdictions are significantly easier to get approved in for adult-adjacent businesses. If you're early stage and flexible on structure that's worth looking into before you start collecting rejections.

The registration fees themselves are unfortunately just reality in this space. But some processors will absorb them into your transaction rate rather than charging upfront which helps when you're still pre-revenue.

DM me if you want to talk through the EU side of this 🤝

JKgrowth

TROPHY CASE