LOS ANGELES — Following a relatively prolonged period of stability in the adult payment processing and distribution sector, merchants were shocked this morning to learn that London-based ePayments has suspended its services and frozen its customer’s funds.
The move reportedly came as the result of an inquiry into the company’s anti-money laundering systems and controls.
Merchants using the service reported receiving this notification from the company, which is a more robust version of the brief message that greeted visitors to the ePayments website today:
We write to inform you that in accordance with paragraph 12.1 (j) of our standard terms and conditions, we have unfortunately taken the hard decision to suspend activity on customer accounts, effective from today. During the course of this suspension customers will be unable to transfer, deal, withdraw or deposit funds and will be unable to use their ePayments cards.
We know this will be a very frustrating time for our customers. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and are working tirelessly with the FCA to ensure improvements are made and accounts can be reactivated as soon as possible. During this improvement process, we want to assure customers that their funds are being safeguarded as normal.
Following a review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of ePayments Systems Limited’s anti-money laundering systems and controls, a number of weaknesses have been identified which require urgent remediation to ensure that our customers can enjoy a safe and secure platform.
Following discussions with the FCA, ePayments has agreed to suspend activity on customer accounts until remedial action has been undertaken to the satisfaction of the FCA.
Merchants were directed to contact the company’s support team with questions.