By CHRIS DANIELS consumer reporter
Disputed bills from internet pornography sites have prompted American Express to ban online voyeurs from using its cards.
The company has decided to stop purveyors of online pornography from accepting payment from American Express, because so many customers have challenged its bills.
"American Express has a policy of
not allowing card acceptance in the Digital Adult Content industry," said spokesman Mark Reynolds.
"This was a business decision based on the unacceptably high levels of customer disputes in this industry.
"After evaluating the industry for over a year, and working closely with merchants, customer dispute levels were still not reduced.
"Therefore, we made the decision to no longer allow card acceptance."
Mr Reynolds said this decision was based purely on risk assessment and the company was not making any moral judgment on the sites.
American Express had to also be confident it was dealing with bona fide businesses that were properly registered, reliable and creditworthy.
American Express has a direct relationship with merchants, while other credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard operate through the banks.
A Mastercard representative, speaking from Australia, said there were not yet any special policies in place for use of its cards on the internet.
Specific types of merchants were not being singled out for special attention from the company.
A Christchurch strip club announced last month that it would start broadcasting live sex shows on the internet. There is nothing illegal about this, and one internet expert said New Zealanders could access at least 576,000 similar sites worldwide.
One of New Zealand's most-advertised adult sites, selling pornographic videos, accepts all major credit cards, including American Express.
