Since I started in this business 25 years ago, I've watched website footers evolve from a simple collection of links designed to help with SEO into important tools for meeting compliance and regulatory requirements, improving the customer experience and reducing chargebacks.
Today, the footer is one of the first things our compliance team reviews when a merchant submits a new website for processing. Depending on your line of business, it can get pretty long. So, why does all that information matter, and is it really necessary? This month, we look at what's required and how your footer is working harder than you may realize.
What Is a Footer?
We see footers on websites all the time without giving them much thought. A footer is the section at the bottom of a webpage that typically appears throughout the entire website. It often contains navigation links, legal disclosures, contact details and branding elements.
Because the footer appears on every page, customers have easy access to important disclosures and support information. When visitors need contact details, terms and conditions or a privacy policy, they often head straight to the footer. It has become an industry standard.
How Much Has to Be There?
Law or card brand rules require several elements of a website footer. Leaving them out can create compliance issues and put your website's approval at risk.
Important legal links, such as your privacy policy and cookie consent options, may be required under laws including the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and the California Consumer Privacy Act. Missing information could expose your business to fines or litigation.
Merchants also need to include certain regulatory and compliance disclosures. These typically identify the billing company, explain refund and billing policies, and provide links required under card brand rules or related compliance standards. Omissions can lead to disputes, chargebacks or scrutiny from acquiring banks.
Websites should clearly display information that helps customers resolve billing questions before contacting their banks. Your full registered business name and address must also appear prominently on the website, and the footer is an ideal place for them. Just make sure the information appears as searchable text rather than an image.
A complete footer also signals legitimacy. Contact information, company details, a privacy policy and terms of service help assure visitors that they are dealing with a real business. An incomplete footer can resemble a red flag associated with scam sites, prompting browsers, payment processors or banks to flag the website or decline to onboard the business.
What About Adult Sites?
As with many aspects of operating in a high-risk space, adult sites face additional card brand requirements that compliance teams and acquiring banks must review. They expect to find the following links and information in the footer, where customers can easily access them:
Billing support: Make it easy for customers to reach your billing support team and end their subscriptions. Federal and state laws, including the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act and California's Automatic Renewal Law, require merchants to provide a simple online cancellation process. If a customer signs up online, they should be able to cancel easily through the same website. A customer who cannot readily cancel a subscription may resort to filing a chargeback.
Customer support: Clearly explain how customers can contact your support team. A highly visible support link can help resolve issues before they lead to chargebacks or cause your business to exceed the fraud ratios established under the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program.
Terms and conditions: Make essential legal information easy to find and read. Courts have repeatedly ruled that businesses cannot enforce arbitration clauses, refund limits or liability waivers when customers could not reasonably access the terms before completing a transaction. Placing a link in the footer ensures the information is available regardless of which page a visitor lands on.
18 U.S.C. 2257 record-keeping requirements compliance statement: If your website contains sexually explicit content, include a link titled "18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement." Producers must designate a custodian of records who maintains the required documentation and makes it available for inspection by the U.S. Attorney General's Office. The compliance statement discloses where those records are kept. This process dates back decades and remains an important obligation.
Privacy policy: Your privacy policy is one of your website's most important legal documents. It should explain what visitor information you collect, how you use and store it, who you share it with, which tracking tools you employ, how users can opt out and whom they can contact with questions. Make sure the policy complies with the laws in every market where you do business. California, for example, has specific privacy requirements, while businesses marketing to customers in the European Union must comply with the GDPR.
Complaints and content removal: Merchants must clearly display their complaint policies and explain how users can report content that may be illegal or violate card brand rules. The process must also allow anyone depicted in content to request its removal. Card brands require merchants to make this reporting process readily available and act on complaints within five days.
The TAKE IT DOWN Act creates additional requirements for websites and online platforms covered by the law, including those that allow users to post or share content. These platforms must offer a clear process for reporting nonconsensual intimate images and remove reported content, along with known identical copies, within 48 hours after receiving a valid request. Illegal content must be removed immediately. Card brands actively audit adult websites to ensure the required complaint link and reporting process remain available.
Think of it this way: Your footer keeps you grounded. It ensures that important information remains available to visitors without requiring them to log in or make a payment. It also signals that your business is legitimate. When that information is missing, payment processors and banks may flag it and decline to onboard your website.
A smaller footer may look cleaner, but a complete and compliant one can protect your business and keep it on solid ground.
Cathy Beardsley is president and CEO of Segpay, a merchant services provider offering a wide range of custom financial solutions, including payment facilitation, 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. For questions or help, contact sales@segpay.com or compliance@segpay.com.
