UPDATE: OnlyFans CEO Say Site Would Allow Porn Again If Bank Agrees To Pay Creators
OnlyFans founder and CEO Tim Stokely is speaking out on his company’s upcoming ban, saying ‘We had no choice’ but to make that move.
RELATED: OnlyFans To Ban Pornographic Content
As we previously reported, in a statement to outlets the company explained that it’s making the changes “to comply with the requests of our banking partners and payout providers.” The new change will go into effect on Oct. 1, 2021. “OnlyFans will prohibit the posting of any content containing sexually explicit conduct,” the company said in a statement. “In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform, and to continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines.”
Stokely told the Financial Times in an interview published today that three major banks refused service because of “reputational risk” associated with the UK-based OnlyFans’ sexual material: Bank of New York Mellon, Metro Bank, and JPMorgan Chase. He said BNY Mellon specifically had “flagged and rejected” every wire transaction involving OnlyFans, threatening its ability to pay creators.
“The change in policy, we had no choice — the short answer is banks,” he told the outlet. “We pay over one million creators over 300 million dollars every month, and making sure that these funds get to creators involves using the banking sector.”
Mr Stokely said he would “absolutely” allow pornographic content to be allowed on the site if banks changed their approach. “This decision was made to safeguard their funds and subscriptions from increasingly unfair actions by banks and media companies,” he said. “We obviously do not want to lose our most loyal creators.”
RELATED: Onlyfans To Potentially Step Away From Adult Content’ To Attract More Advertisers