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Payone, a subsidiary of Sparkasse, faces mounting scrutiny due to its involvement in businesses related to pornography and gambling. - Businesses in the realms of adult content and gambling face scrutiny as Payone, a payment service provider, comes under pressure
In today's cashless society, who wouldn't trust companies like Payone, the payment processor giant handling more than five billion transactions annually for big names such as Aldi, Rewe, and Karstadt? With over 270,000 companies relying on its services, it's hard to resist the appealing slogans like "All payments from one hand," "Free customer service," and "Increase conversion rate," doesn't it? But according to shocking revelations by news magazine "Der Spiegel," Payone seems to have a few dirty secrets.
Payone Under the Microscope for Poor AML Compliance
You won't believe what recent investigations uncovered: Payone has been allegedly slacking off when it comes to auditing business clients. Suspect clients from the smut, online dating, and gambling industries have reportedly been given a free pass, bypassing rigorous legitimacy checks—a claim that has stirred the ire of financial regulators, auditors, and banks alike. The financial supervisory authority BaFin isn't mincing words, stating that Payone has shown "serious shortcomings" when it comes to complying with anti-money laundering (AML) duties.
A Long-standing Problem
It seems that Payone has been making shady deals for years now. Rumors suggest that it took over questionable clients from the down-and-out Wirecard group, a move that caught BaFin's attention. As a result, the authority nixed Payone's association with hundreds of high-risk clients two years ago. Now, you won't believe this—some of these so-called high-risk clients are currently being served by Payone's parent company, Worldline, or its sister companies.
On request, Payone claimed that they have implemented "a series of corrective measures" to rectify this issue, including mechanisms to prevent future dubious transactions. However, we'll have to judge for ourselves whether these steps will be enough to save Payone's good name from the mud.
- Money Laundering
- Financial Supervisory Authority
Sources:
- Dirty Payments: How the world’s payment-processing giants are helping launder billions
- Payone: Payment Processor under Fire for Alleged Money Laundering
- PayPal, Payone, and Stripe among companies Source-ing funds from adult and poker sites
- Worldline Investigated Over Alleged Failure to Combat Money Laundering
- Worldline shares take biggest tumble in history on money laundering scandal
- The financial supervisory authority, BaFin, has expressed concerns about Payone's compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) duties, particularly concerning possible lax auditing of clients from the smut, online dating, and gambling industries.
- The alleged shortcomings in Payone's AML compliance, if confirmed, could potentially place it in the same league as certain industries regulated by the Commission's directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to ionizing radiation, such as the banking-and-insurance sector.
