Over the last few years, launching fan sites and working with content creators has been all the rage. The popularity of these sites shot up during pandemic closures especially, as platforms provided the performer community with a great opportunity to take control of their careers. The trend towards subscriber-based premium social media businesses only continues to grow now, and as a payment processor, we’re receiving at least two new fan site applications for processing each month. Existing merchants are also expanding, adding to their tool set a fan component that allows their models to further monetize their brands.
This month, I will review what is needed to get these types of platforms approved for processing and how to ultimately make them profitable for the platform owner, since it takes a lot of resources to get a fan site going. To save time with payment processing procedures, we recommend using this checklist for getting a fan site approved by a bank.
Merchants must have a way to prevent illegal and brand-damaging material from being published on their platform.
- Merchants must have a Know Your Customer plan in place for their content creators. This includes validating their age with a government-issued ID plus secondary documentation such as a utility bill or bank statement.
- Merchants must have a way to prevent illegal and brand-damaging material from being published on their platform. For video, an artificial intelligence solution is strongly recommended, along with human moderation. Some examples are HiveAI and Amazon Rekognition. For text, it is also strongly recommended that merchants use third-party scanning providers such as G2 or Web Shield.
- A merchant must provide a single login so banks can review the site. This has been a struggle for most fan sites, as they do not have the ability to create an all-access login. Banks require this for content to be scanned by third parties.
- Make sure you have a robust payment procedure for your models. Whether you’re doing it yourself or leveraging third parties, quick payment is key to fan site success. Find as many payout solutions as possible, for the U.S., Europe, Eastern Europe and Latin America, as well as a payment facilitator that is approved to handle third-party payouts directed by merchants.
- Refer to Mastercard AN5196 for requirements that affect all adult merchants and some specific to those with user-generated content.
Once you have all the infrastructure in place, it’s time to add your content creators. This is the biggest challenge for new players in the space. Encouraging content creators to use your site when they’re already established on other popular fan sites is difficult. You need a clear pitch that shows the value of your platform and why it is good to monetize on as many platforms as possible.
Want to move into the fan space but don’t have the resources to invest in the infrastructure? There are a few platforms out there that can help with white label solutions that might be a great way for you to get your feet wet in this space without getting bogged down with the details. Don’t let the infrastructure needed to get started scare you. Your fan site can be fantastic; you just have to put in the work to make your platform take off.
Cathy Beardsley is president and CEO of Segpay, a merchant services provider offering a wide range of custom financial solutions including payment facilitator, direct merchant accounts and secure gateway services. Under her direction, Segpay has become one of four companies approved by Visa to operate as a high-risk internet payment services provider. Segpay offers secure turnkey solutions to accept online payments, with a guarantee that funds are kept safe and protected with its proprietary Fraud Mitigation System and customer service and support. For any questions or help, contact sales@segpay.com or compliance@segpay.com.
