When I moved to New York in 1999, I was here to attend college at the New School. There was a Citibank branch right across the street at 5th Avenue and 13th Street, so that’s where I set up my checking and savings accounts. Over the past nine years, I’ve gotten a credit card there, opened CDs, all that banking stuff. When I created Waking Vixen Productions as a DBA (doing business as) in 2006, I opened my business account at Commerce Bank. A few weeks ago I decided to get all the accounts at one bank, so I went to Citibank and tried to open a checking and savings accounts for Waking Vixen Productions. And then I got this voicemail:
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To paraphrase, the voicemail informs me that they cannot open the account for me because of “the line of business [I am] in.” Because I work in the adult industry, Citibank will not take my money.
When I did the account set up stuff with the guy at Citibank, he asked a lot of questions about my business, and I was straightforward about it. When asked what my business does at the beginning of our conversation, I told him that I do adult new media production and consulting (then of course I had to explain what new media is). I explained that I don’t have an office, work at home, its mostly web based, gave him my web address (this one, wakingvixen.com) and told him that Village Voice Media/New Times is my major client. All true stuff that didn’t seem to raise any red flags for him as we talked.
But later when the bank manager reviewed my application and they, as the voicemail says, had a look at my website they decided that “it’s obvious” that my work is adult and not a business they want to work with. As soon as I heard the message, I decided to close all my accounts with Citibank, and that’s what I did yesterday afternoon. When I marched in and told them my intentions, I explained, “Since you’ve told me in no uncertain terms that you don’t want money from the adult industry, I don’t want you to have any of my money. I would like to close my accounts.” They didn’t really argue much at first, though as we worked our way through the paperwork they explained that it wasn’t my personal accounts that were the problem, just the business. As you know, there isn’t a lot of separation in my mind between who I am as a business and who I am as a person, so this argument just isn’t going to fly with me. Also, my business is a DBA, which means it isn’t a separate legal entity (like a LLC or other corporation would be), it’s intimately tied to my personal finances in the legal sense. Who’s to say that at some point in the future, they wouldn’t get a hair across their asses and decide to close down all my accounts with them? That notion aside, no one who objects to how I make my money is going to get their hands on it. That is fundamental.
In a situation like this, I essentially have no legal recourse – the Citibank policy doesn’t go against any protected rights. Businesses are totally within their rights to discriminate against people who work in any sector of the adult industry, regardless of the legality of that work. But I can (and did) take my money elsewhere, and I told them exactly why.
This is something that people who work in all adult-related businesses should think about, and if you feel comfortable, ask companies that you do big business with if they have a policy on adult entertainment. Some will look at you like you’re crazy – money is money, who cares where it comes from? – and others will say that of course they don’t do business with people in adult. I’ve had this experience at post production houses too, when trying to get screening copies made of The Bi Apple.
I took my business to Washington Mutual immediately after receiving my official checks from Citibank, and before I even sat down, I asked if they have a policy against opening accounts for adult businesses. They didn’t think so, but reviewed their policies anyway and there was nothing against my work. Upon explaining what I do, I was also told that it didn’t seem all that adult, because I don’t own or operate a strip club and my primary business isn’t porn production. It’s so fascinating to see what different people’s takes on “adult” are.
So the moral of the story is: if you work in the adult industry or are an ally of people who do, don’t do business with Citibank, even if you can conceal where your money comes from. Money is power. Bestow that power on companies that don’t judge you (and this goes for hairdressers, CPAs, etc as well).
I’ve posted my Twitter stream and replies from my Tweeple below so you can see some reactions to what was happening as it was going on, with the most recent entries at the top.
10:21 am
Banks are part of “the man.” I tend to stick with smaller credit unions, who are more like “the boy.” They’re much sweeter to me, have a more personable staff, and never give me shit for anything. I over-drafted once by accident, got a polite phone call. Maybe it’s because I live in the South, but I much prefer people who say “ma’am,” “please,” and “thank you.” Never had any of that at my husband’s nationwide bank.
10:58 am
Screw Citibank! I hope you moved your credit cards, too.
12:38 pm
I had an advertising network drop me because my work was “adult” and the owner was afraid Paypal would drop him as a result. I told him in no uncertain terms to go look at Paypal’s actual rules (exemptions for literary works with “redeeming value”) and then come back and actually read my work. No one so much as kisses anyone for the first six chapters! He apologized profusely and said he was going off the schmexy excerpt I had linked on the front page (which prompted me to take down that link–it was giving a false impression of the story). I would have told him to pound sand, but he was genuinely nice and we got things squared away. We’re good now.
Citibank, though? Sucks rocks. I do all my banking at a credit union.
1:04 pm
I hate Citibank. They are like wolves on college campuses. Willing to wreck young adults credit scores for gifts of Made in China footballs and polyester golf towels.
1:57 pm
[...] Waking Vixen » Blog Archive » I Meet the Business End of Citibank’s Anti-Adult Bus… “In a situation like this, I essentially have no legal recourse – the Citibank policy doesn’t go against any protected rights. Businesses are totally within their rights to discriminate against people who work in any sector of the adult industry, regardless of the legality of that work. But I can (and did) take my money elsewhere, and I told them exactly why.” [...]
3:00 pm
[...] it seems it’s not quite that simple. Friend of Boinkology Audacia Ray recently learned that Citibank won’t do business with the adult industry — or even, it seems, people who write about and tangentially work with the adult industry. [...]
3:40 pm
Funny how they don’t have any trouble letting people run up credit card debt to pay for porn. Or anything else for that matter…. “there’s some things money can’t buy. For ANYTHING ELSE” there’s mastercard.
They SAY they won’t do business in adult, but I am sure a large percentage of the $12 billion annual revenue in porn, some large percent of that is charged on citibank cards.
For anyone looking for a great alternative bank that will let you use any atm without a fee (they reimburse you for the other banks’ charges), see http://www.newresourcebank.com
5:02 pm
Haha, Citi the town or porn.
1:04 am
Ugh! I’ve definitely heard of credit card companies making merchant accounts very hard to come by for adult businesses. But that is because there truly *is* a higher risk of fraud and charge-backs (usually by the customers, not the businesses). I can’t imagine why Citibank wouldn’t even open a checking account for you, though. I’m really glad that you showed them you were serious about this by closing your accounts. Not a convenient thing but an important stand to take.
10:25 am
It’s a pain, but banks are in the main risk averse, if they think you’re in a business that poses them some kind of risk that’s pretty much the end of the story. They may or may not have a moral issue with “adult”. I’m glad for you the WM has a more open approach.
9:34 am
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[...] I Meet the Business End of Citibank’s Anti-Adult Business Policy Posted on August 22, 2008 by Audacia Ray [Cross-posted from Waking Vixen] [...]
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12:30 am
Yeah, I generally find that credit unions are less evil than banks. However, whether they are a good choice for a business, I’m not sure. Good luck!
2:11 am
[...] last month it was Citibank, this month its iTunes. Last week I got this form email from iTunes: Dear Podcast [...]
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