As payments risk evolves, so do the rules that govern acquirers, payment facilitators, and merchants. Late last year, Visa began enforcing updated standards within the Visa Integrity Risk Program (VIRP) affecting adult content, dating services, and escort services. These updates now raise expectations for merchant classification, transparency, and compliance.
Keep reading to better understand Visa’s updated guidelines regarding these merchants.
February 16, 2026 | by Erin Feebeck
Visa Updates Guidelines for Adult Content, Dating, and Escort Services
Visa has updated its Tier 1 High Integrity Risk standards for merchants offering adult content, dating services, and escort services. These merchants are associated with elevated risk, including fraud, prostitution, and human trafficking. As a result, Visa subjects them to increased scrutiny, higher fees, and stricter compliance expectations. To effectively track Tier 1 merchants, a key component of the updated guidance is proper use of Merchant Category Codes (MCCs). Visa now requires:
- MCC 7273 for escort, dating, and matchmaking services
- MCC 5967 for adult content, including AI-generated adult content
Merchants that fail to use the appropriate MCC may be considered miscoded and subject to enforcement actions.
For more on LegitScript’s approach to AI-generated explicit content, see Deepfake; Real Risk: The Crackdown on AI Image Generators.
Staying Compliant With Adult, Dating, and Escort Merchants
Lack of compliance with card brand standards can result in heavy fines and reputational harm for payment processors and acquirers. Accurate MCC usage plays a critical role in ensuring merchants are assessed correctly for risk, fees, and regulatory obligations.
LegitScript’s reporting approaches are aligned with Visa’s updated VIRP guidelines to ensure that processors remain compliant to card brand standards. Our methodology includes the following:
Dating and Escort Services — MCC 7273
LegitScript reports dating and matchmaking services as part of its standard monitoring. While such services are not inherently illegal, they may present increased risk for prostitution, human trafficking, and fraud.
Merchants offering these services without MCC 7273 are reported as violating VIRP guidelines. Merchants using the correct MCC may still be reported for Terms and Conditions violations, with escalation to higher risk if additional risk indicators are present, such as negative option billing schemes or fraud.
LegitScript also reports prostitution and escort services, including VIRP violations for merchants offering prostitution where it is illegal.
Adult Content — MCC 5967
LegitScript reports all adult content lacking the required MCC 5967 as violating VIRP guidelines. Merchants whose content includes objects or fictional depictions intended to mimic egregious adult content are reported with elevated risk, allowing customers to request content removal when appropriate. Merchants that primarily offer this type of content are reported as noncompliant with VIRP guidelines.
Examples include fictional depictions of bestiality or nonconsensual sexual activity. As with Visa, LegitScript has zero tolerance for websites depicting real illegal activity, including nonconsensual sexual behavior and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). LegitScript maintains separate internal procedures for escalating and addressing such content when identified.
Case Studies: High-risk Adult and Dating Merchants
Violative merchants may not always be obvious. Below are two real examples of problematic merchants from LegitScript’s work.
Example 1
The dating website shown here was reported by LegitScript’s analysts as being in violation of VIRP guidelines due to lacking the proper MCC of 7273. In addition, this particular case showed risk of fraud, including poor reviews and accusations of scams on the Apple App Store.
The merchant website also appeared to accept crypto and offered visa application services (see image of the website footer below), which can pose an additional risk of fraud and scams.
Example 2
In another case, LegitScript identified a merchant account offering custom adult content. The merchant did not use the required MCC 5967 and was therefore in violation of VIRP guidelines and posed significant risk for attracting card brand scrutiny and fines. See the following image.
A merchant offers "custom adult content" without using the required MCC 5967.
LegitScript Helps You Stay Compliant With New Rules and Regulations
As government regulations and card brand rules change, LegitScript continuously updates its monitoring and risk frameworks to reflect new enforcement priorities. Our analyst team tracks high-risk merchant trends and behavior to help protect your portfolio from fines and regulatory scrutiny.
To learn more about how we support acquirers and payment facilitators, explore our Merchant Risk Solutions.
