> Personally I think they should not be able to decide such things. A payment provider should be forced to accept all legitimate customers. It is absolutely unwanted for a private business (in an unrelated category no less) to be playing the role of legislator.
Why? I would say just the opposite: by default people should be able to decide who they want to do business with. Payment providers are no exception.
Some people might want to refuse to facilitate payments for eg bakeries that refuse to bake cakes for gay weddings. Some other people might want to refuse to facilitate payments for bakers that bake cakes for gay weddings. (Similar for many other issues you can think of.)
> Recently there was a lot of news in the Netherlands about prostitutes not being able to open bank account because all banks refused them.
The bigger problem here seems to be a lack of competition? If barriers to entry were low enough, presumably someone would open a bank that accepted prostitutes' money and make a tidy profit (since there would be less competition, when they are the first ones).
Banking is regulated so heavily in an attempt to keep out even slightly 'shady' things, that the effect is to drive people into the arms of the really shady.
Why? I would say just the opposite: by default people should be able to decide who they want to do business with. Payment providers are no exception.
Some people might want to refuse to facilitate payments for eg bakeries that refuse to bake cakes for gay weddings. Some other people might want to refuse to facilitate payments for bakers that bake cakes for gay weddings. (Similar for many other issues you can think of.)
> Recently there was a lot of news in the Netherlands about prostitutes not being able to open bank account because all banks refused them.
The bigger problem here seems to be a lack of competition? If barriers to entry were low enough, presumably someone would open a bank that accepted prostitutes' money and make a tidy profit (since there would be less competition, when they are the first ones).
Banking is regulated so heavily in an attempt to keep out even slightly 'shady' things, that the effect is to drive people into the arms of the really shady.