Source: Radio New Zealand
Rachel Brant was hoping 2026 would be a big year for her speed dating business. Supplied
Rachel Brant was hoping 2026 would be a big year for her speed dating business, but a decision by payment provider Stripe to cut her off has left her scrambling for an alternative.
Brant started the business seven years ago with another single mother friend. They took over an organisation in Wellington known as The Choice Speed Dating, and rebranded it Speed Dating Wellington.
They set up a website on Squarespace and integrated the Stripe payment system, and had been running events successfully since.
Just over a year ago, she bought her friend out and expanded the business to offer a wider range of events around the country, operating as Speed Dating New Zealand.
But then, as she prepared to host a Christian speed dating event, she found people were not able to make their payments.
“A few weeks ago Stripe decided to stop processing payments for my business because it is a restricted category – a dating site.
“This had not been a problem for more than six years. I moved my payments to Squarespace payments and that was all up and running, until last week, when I realised there were no bookings coming in because the payment system had been suspended, and they had not even informed me. Squarespace payments have now also closed my account.
“At this stage it looks like my only option is to move my website to a different platform and hosting service and link to a different payment system. I am hoping to be able to just afford to do this, as at this time of year I have limited funds due to the Christmas and New Year break from running events.”
She said she had tried to contact Stripe and was told that dating sites were a restricted business type. “I contacted them and said I actually run face-to-face events, I’m more of an event organisation, but that wasn’t an option as a business type.”
Brant said it was probably a situation where she had missed something in the fine print – “because we never would have imagined it would have affected us”.
But it was a body blow to her business.
“I’m really small. I didn’t even actually pay myself any income last year. I ran the events pretty much at break-even, it covers a little bit of my internet and phone.
“I’m looking to grow it. This year was really meant to be a growth year of running a lot more events around the country and a bigger variety.
“I’m running neurodivergent speed dating and ethical non-monogamy and the Christian speed dating, trying to offer something for everybody … it just feels like everybody’s trying to take you down and make it harder. And when you’re one person trying to run something and you’re not a technical expert, you’re not a website designer, it all costs extra money getting help with these things.”
She said she was having to push events out and contact everyone who had made bookings.
“I’m having to try and process refunds but I can’t use my payment system … it sets everything back. It’s been a really cool thing, running speed dating. I love bringing people together. I do it because I really enjoy it. But, now that I’ve stepped back from my full-time job because of my kid’s health issues, I need this to actually work now. And I was so excited about this year … it’s a big part of who I am now.
“I don’t want it to go under. I did almost kind of go, ‘I can’t fight this. It’s too hard’. But I don’t want to do that.”
Emma Geard, a senior associate at law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, said payment service providers such as Stripe often declined to work with businesses based on a combination of legal requirements, fraud risk, and reputational concerns.
“While dating services aren’t typically on prohibited lists, providers often restrict businesses they perceive as high-risk for chargebacks or fraud, those operating in legally complex areas, or those that might create reputational issues with banking partners or card networks. The specific reasons for any individual business being declined aren’t always transparent, and providers have broad discretion in these decisions.
“The ‘reputational risk’ category has proven particularly controversial, as it can lead to exclusions of legal businesses based on subjective judgments rather than clear regulatory requirements. This has affected industries ranging from adult content platforms to legal cannabis businesses in jurisdictions where they operate lawfully. While payment providers are private companies acting in their own commercial interests-managing risk, maintaining banking relationships, and protecting their brands-there’s growing recognition that as digital payments become essential infrastructure for participating in the modern economy, questions of access and potential discrimination deserve public policy attention. The tension between a company’s right to choose its customers and concerns about essential service access remains an evolving debate, but it remains in the early stages.”
Banking expert Claire Matthews said it seemed surprising. Other options could be Qippay or Worldline, she said.
A spokesperson for Stripe said it did not talk about individual users but had a policy on restricted businesses. “Certain businesses, including online dating and matchmaking, require additional due diligence by Stripe in order to confirm our ability to support them. This is due to various reasons, including requirements that apply to Stripe as a financial infrastructure platform and requirements from our financial partners.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand