Businesses and individuals have been frozen out of accounts with little explanation despite acting perfectly lawfully
Sex sells. But finding a bank willing to take the money is a little more complicated. That is the hard lesson learned by people such as Genevieve LeJeune, the founder of Skirt Club, which runs a 16,000-strong community for bisexual and bi-curious women and hosts events – including sex parties – around the world.
LeJeune says she had been a premier customer with HSBC her entire life and did not bother to shop around when she opened her business account in 2013. She said she told the bank that she ran a community for the “B” in LGBTQ+ and was not chased for any further information. “I didn’t think for one minute they would have an issue with what the business was about. And why would they be concerned, as long as I’m cashflow positive and I do all the right things, and it’s completely legal?”
