RM not accepting Visa anymore!? What the actual f$ck?

[Kevin Slater]

Yup, I just got a notice that my recurring payment couldn't be processed.  Typical of their lack of customer service, they didn't bother to send an email to their membership with a heads up explaining the situation, just an automatic rejection message when the payment cannot be processed on their end.  I suspect Visa cancelled them because of too many chargebacks.  I know rentboy was always terrified of this as well after a few warnings from the payment networks.

Kevin Slater

[MikeBiDude]

Well my honeymoon is over…I just got the dreaded “payment not processed”. Will deal with it in a day or two?

[nate_sf]

Same same same... I had let my ad expire for a bit. This month I decided to renew as I have some travel coming up, and got the same message that my Visa on file was no longer valid. Fortunately like @azdr0710 I had an old MC stashed away, so dusted it off and that went through.

If I had to guess, I wouldn't be surprised if Visa was trying to do some housecleaning in the face of their legal issues. If they're already being accused of being monopolistic, they may be particularly concerned about any other business activities that might come under scrutiny.

[northdude30]

I have been a member of RentMen Premium for a long time. Yesterday I got a notice that my payment was backed out. I contacted their help desk and they only accept MasterCard or crypto now. I only deal with Visa cards and never use crypto. So I guess my membership will go away. Anyone else been affected by this?

[+ claym]

On 9/27/2024 at 3:21 PM, Simon Suraci said:

So it DOES have something to do with new policies regarding adult content!

There are reports that there are entities seeking to outlaw pornography and advocate for imprisoning those who produce and distribute it and shutter telecommunication and tech companies that facilitate its spread.  

Perhaps this contributes to changes in credit card company policies.  Additionally the adult content  industry is reportedly launching a campaign to push back against such policies.

[LostUpstate]

3 hours ago, northdude30 said:

I have been a member of RentMen Premium for a long time. Yesterday I got a notice that my payment was backed out. I contacted their help desk and they only accept MasterCard or crypto now. I only deal with Visa cards and never use crypto. So I guess my membership will go away. Anyone else been affected by this?

Yes, I only have Visa and American Express, so I’m no longer able to subscribe to the site. 

[Guest]

Good afternoon. I bought Bitcoin through Coinbase. I was finally able to send it to RM. It took a week from opening my Coinbase account and buying Bitcoin to send. It was relatively easy to do, but there were multiple steps and the one week waiting period. I hope that helps. Thanks.

[Muscle Lover 2]

Same s*€t happening to me.  3 days notice!  Crappy business practice.  Can’t get a Mastercard in 3 days or a Counbase account.  Especially weird they are allowing some VISA accounts and not others.  And those of you that got responses from RM, lucky.  They ignore me every time.

[ICTJOCK]

I was notified  by Rentmen that my credit card had "failed",   despite the fact I am nowhere near the expiration date and pay my card off each month.   I use a regular VISA card for this transaction and was told to either use  "Mastercard"  or Bitcoin.    I remember something about this last year and was told my card was fine since I have been registered as a provider on their site for some time.     I have no desire to open a credit card with Mastercard just for Rentmen.    For those clients and providers that actively use  Rentmen,   what have you heard and what do you use?

[Act25]

My renewal just failed due to the VISA issue. 

As a client what do we lose if we go with the basic membership vs. the premium membership?

[+ azdr0710]

7 minutes ago, Act25 said:

My renewal just failed due to the VISA issue. 

As a client what do we lose if we go with the basic membership vs. the premium membership?

ability to look at the semi-private pictures without asking, the videos, some of the stats, ability to write reviews......maybe more

[+ Kevin Eagle]

Same here. I have sent them a message. Tried using Crypto which has it own pain and still not been able to send the payment

 

[Ethan Woods]

If you have Apple Card, it’s a Mastercard and can be used with RM sites. 
 

Even if you don’t have the physical (titanium) card, you can get the card number and other information from Wallet — … in upper right corner — Account Details — Card Information.

 

You have an Apple Card if you financed the purchase of an Apple device through Goldman-Sachs. If you apply for one, you can get up to 3% cash back from eligible purchases through Apple (including App Store).

[TAMPAMUSCLEDAD]

Hey guys. I imagine all of you are sick of me by now. LOL. Honestly just trying to help by giving updates. So I bought Bitcoin. That was quite an experience. I got all the way down to having a QR code like RM was requesting and as soon as I scanned it it said that it was not a valid QR code. So I have tried absolutely everything at this point and still no membership. I'm going to ask a friend of mine who has a MasterCard and hope that it's not declined because it's a transaction outside of the US. That's the only thing I can think of. Have no idea what's going on with Bitcoin and why it was declined and my own MasterCard does not allow transactions outside of the United States. Just curious if any of you have used Bitcoin successfully or may have run into the dreaded QR code debacle? Thank you in advance for your patience and consideration

[marylander1940]

On 10/10/2024 at 3:57 PM, ICTJOCK said:

I was notified  by Rentmen that my credit card had "failed",   despite the fact I am nowhere near the expiration date and pay my card off each month.   I use a regular VISA card for this transaction and was told to either use  "Mastercard"  or Bitcoin.    I remember something about this last year and was told my card was fine since I have been registered as a provider on their site for some time.     I have no desire to open a credit card with Mastercard just for Rentmen.    For those clients and providers that actively use  Rentmen,   what have you heard and what do you use?

Now RM would only accept CC payments made by the escort with the escort's credit card, Master card only, and they're also requiring a copy of your ID to verify you're making the payment and your real age. 

Fortunately if you've been a member of RM for a long time, you can politely ask them NOT to require your ID verification. I know several guys who've done that. 

[+ friendofsheila]

maybe there should be a digital currency for this.  Buttcoin?

[Kevin Slater]

This would be a great time to launch a competitor site.  Should Mastercard cut off Rentmen as well, whichever site was sitting as a distant #2 would become the de facto leader.  (That's what happened to Rentmen when Rentboy got shut down.)

Kevin Slater 

[ArmyHands]

I was dealing with this for 2 months

I had to get a MasterCard...  then when I finally did...  it keep showing DECLINE

I called the bank etc.. they said my card has the Funds.. Avail to use anywhere etc..  

Plus they said NO ISSUES on the bank side but on the other end...

Sent RM a DM they gave me 1 Month Free for my problems.... Now 1 Month Later is still coming up DECLINE..

I just cancelled them today.... been with them since 2016

Soo I just used up all the funds on MC went shopping on TEMU.... lol

 

[Rudynate]

On 10/14/2024 at 3:53 PM, TAMPAMUSCLEDAD said:

Hey guys. I imagine all of you are sick of me by now. LOL. Honestly just trying to help by giving updates. So I bought Bitcoin. That was quite an experience. I got all the way down to having a QR code like RM was requesting and as soon as I scanned it it said that it was not a valid QR code. So I have tried absolutely everything at this point and still no membership. I'm going to ask a friend of mine who has a MasterCard and hope that it's not declined because it's a transaction outside of the US. That's the only thing I can think of. Have no idea what's going on with Bitcoin and why it was declined and my own MasterCard does not allow transactions outside of the United States. Just curious if any of you have used Bitcoin successfully or may have run into the dreaded QR code debacle? Thank you in advance for your patience and consideration

Cards that don't allow transactions outside the US are more and more common.  I have one card, a VISA gold card from a credit union that is nearly useless because the card issuer declines so many transactions - almost any online transaction is sure to be declined.

[Vers Grant NJ]

On 9/26/2024 at 10:03 AM, mike carey said:

PayPal apparently has one.

And it works on RM!

I just got the dreaded email about my recurring payment failing with my Visa. Then, I remember that PayPal has an option to get a Mastercard debit card linked to your PayPal balance.

The only draw back is that the PayPal balance has to be enough to cover the PayPal debit card charge. It won't automatically pull funds from any other linked bank account or card. So far, seems like best option would be to set regular bank account to have a recurring transfer to PayPal account, for which the routing and account numbers can be found with direct deposit info on PayPal's site.

I created an account on to be able to share this info. So, I may not respond after this.

[Vers Grant NJ]

1 minute ago, Vers Grant NJ said:

And it works on RM!

I just got the dreaded email about my recurring payment failing with my Visa. Then, I remember that PayPal has an option to get a Mastercard debit card linked to your PayPal balance.

The only draw back is that the PayPal balance has to be enough to cover the PayPal debit card charge. It won't automatically pull funds from any other linked bank account or card. So far, seems like best option would be to set regular bank account to have a recurring transfer to PayPal account, for which the routing and account numbers can be found with direct deposit info on PayPal's site.

I created an account on to be able to share this info. So, I may not respond after this.

I know it works because I tried it by paying for a Platinum Boost. It went through once my PayPal balance had enough to cover the cost of the boost and international transaction / currency conversion fee.

[AJDalton]

Ya I just got the news myself when my ad expired and it wouldn’t let me pay with my visa.  So I transferred funds to my MC Venmo card only to find out it takes a week for it to transfer, so I had to ask a friend to loan me some money via Venmo so I can renew my ad.  There was a lawsuit against visa for monopolizing the industry so maybe that has something to do with it!?  Oh and as for crypto if they ever force us to only use that I won’t be able to do RM or Rmasseur anymore cause crypto is scary.  Buy a dollar and five seconds later it goes down .20 cents.  And then when comes to spending the crypto (if you can manage to do it fast enuf before the value drops) I have no clue.  Anyways I don’t know if it’s related to the lawsuit against visa by the DOJ but the timing is sus.  

[AJDalton]

4 hours ago, Vers Grant NJ said:

I know it works because I tried it by paying for a Platinum Boost. It went through once my PayPal balance had enough to cover the cost of the boost and international transaction / currency conversion fee.

Thankfully my Venmo card is Mastercard.  I would Been sol if wasn’t for that.  Granted I’m assuming they will take MC debit cards as I haven’t tried yet.  Waiting for a friend to Venmo me some money since bank transfers to Venmo take an eternity.  

[BuffaloKyle]

On 10/21/2024 at 12:27 AM, ArmyHands said:

I was dealing with this for 2 months

I had to get a MasterCard...  then when I finally did...  it keep showing DECLINE

I called the bank etc.. they said my card has the Funds.. Avail to use anywhere etc..  

Plus they said NO ISSUES on the bank side but on the other end...

Sent RM a DM they gave me 1 Month Free for my problems.... Now 1 Month Later is still coming up DECLINE..

I just cancelled them today.... been with them since 2016

Soo I just used up all the funds on MC went shopping on TEMU.... lol

 

Guessing you got a MasterCard gift card? Yeah most of them don't allow foreign transactions. If they did it'd be a simple way for most of us with Visas to get around the block easily.

[mike carey]

We have become accustomed to assuming that Visa and Mastercard are interchangeable, if a merchant accepts one they will accept the other. Most people who use Amex are accustomed to those cards not being interchangeable with the other two, and are ready with an alternative. RM may be a one-off or it may be the start of a trend, we don't yet know. I was always a Visa person until a card with the features I wanted was a Mastercard, and now I have both, otherwise I'd be in the same boat as others here.

Some merchants already differentiate between credit and debit cards, mainly when you pay deposits rather than final payments. Gift cards, even those issued by Visa and Mastercard carry their own limitations that differ from credit and debit cards (not so much of an issue here as we have the same legal requirements for identification as credit/debit cards).

So far, it's only RM, which most of us can live without, but it may be the shape of things to come if regulators in the US look more closely at whether the two are colluding to exploit the market. We may be forced to consider what each type of card offers and either pick one on that basis rather than habit or 'just liking' one or the other, or of diversifying our card holdings. Lamenting that your chosen card isn't accepted somewhere won't help any more than lamenting that someone wouldn't take my Amex has helped me so far.