Payment Processors’ Adult/18+ Requirements: An Overview
Payment processing partners like Mastercard and Visa have implemented two new requirements for Adult/18+ creators and platforms like Patreon that host Adult/18+ content:
REQUIREMENT 1: AGE VERIFICATION
This is a summary of the Age Verification requirement. For greater detail into the process, including measures we’re taking to ensure privacy, security, and inclusion, check out this frequently asked questions article in our Help Center.
Payment processors require Patreon to verify the identifications of Adult/18+ content creators to ensure the creators are over 18. The requirement specifically applies to creators in the Adult/18+ category (in other words, those whose pages include one or more works containing sexually explicit content or nudity). If you’re in the Adult/18+ category, but your page contains no sexually explicit content or nudity — or if you choose to remove any such content — you are eligible to opt out of Age Verification by recategorizing from "Adult/18+" to "Safe for All Audiences.” Here’s how you can do that.
You can read more about this in the Age Verification FAQ article in our Help Center.
REQUIREMENT 2: CONSENT DOCUMENTATION
Payment processing partners require Patreon to ensure that creators in the Adult/18+ category obtain written consent from real humans who participate in their creative works by being featured visually.
What does securing Consent Documentation entail?
To meet this requirement, Adult/18+ creators whose works visually feature real human participants other than themselves should document participant consent using this template, which Patreon translated into 18 languages for convenience.
Do we have to use the template form provided by Patreon, or will a general one do?
Although you are not required to use this specific template, we developed it to make creators' lives easier and help you better meet payment partner requirements. If you choose to use a different form, please ensure that it contains at least the same information
Once I document participant consent per the requirement, do I submit the document somewhere or retain it myself?
You should retain all participant consent documentation indefinitely. Upon request from a payment partner, Patreon may ask Adult/18+ creators to provide this documentation, which would then be shared with the requesting payment partner to demonstrate compliance with their rules.