"Barclays has been accused of closing the bank account of a tech entrepreneur because she earns part of her income through the adult content platform OnlyFans. Madelaine Thomas, who runs a start-up called Image Angel while also generating income through adult content platforms, said the bank refused to open a business account for her company and had shut down an account linked to her work on OnlyFans and similar websites."
"Thomas applied for a business account with Barclays for Image Angel, a company she founded after private images of her were shared without her consent. The company's technology applies digital watermarks to online images, allowing creators to track how their content is distributed and identify when it is shared without permission."
""It's crazy that I'm trying to get a business bank account for technology that is going to change the landscape in terms of violence against women and girls, and yet I'm now being investigated for...I don't even know what," she said. "The technology I'm creating is just protecting people. It's a benefit to society." Writing on LinkedIn, she claimed: "Barclays don't like that I earn via platforms like OnlyFans." OnlyFans, which has nearly five million creators and more than 350 million users, has faced similar complaints before."
Madelaine Thomas, founder of Image Angel, said Barclays refused to open a business account and closed an account tied to her adult-content earnings. Image Angel develops digital watermarking to track and identify unauthorized sharing of images, created after private images of Thomas were shared without consent. Thomas said an initial positive response from Barclays was followed by probing questions about a separate account receiving OnlyFans income and a joint account used for nursery fees. She posted on LinkedIn that Barclays objected to her OnlyFans earnings. Similar complaints have been reported previously, and regulators warned banks against unjustified account closures for adult workers.
Read at Business Matters
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