In 2021, when Commerzbank cut ties with the porn company Manwin, Wirecard was quick to step in. Despite former CEO Markus Braun’s attempts to downplay the connection, Wirecard had long been deeply embedded in the porn and gambling sectors. The German fintech gained prominence by catering to high-risk industries, even as Braun later tried to distance the company from its origins.
A recent FinanceFWD report sheds new light on Wirecard’s long-standing involvement with the adult industry.
Wirecard’s Hidden Mission
Two years ago, in an interview with Der Spiegel, Markus Braun was asked whether porn and gambling had been his core focus at Wirecard. His response?
“Nice try.”
He claimed that in the early 2000s, these industries were simply among the first to adopt online payments, and their market share was too large to ignore. However, he insisted that “the erotic sector no longer plays a role” in Wirecard’s operations.
As early as 2008, Braun told the FAZ that Wirecard’s primary revenues came from consumer goods, claiming that online dating accounted for only 10% of transactions. He avoided mentioning the porn industry entirely.
However, the truth is that Wirecard never abandoned its roots. Until its collapse in 2020, the company remained a high-risk payment processor with porn and gambling clients at its core.
Wirecard’s Role in MindGeek’s Empire (Pornhub & YouPorn)
🔹 Commerzbank cut ties with Manwin (later rebranded as MindGeek) due to reputational risks.
🔹 Manwin owned Pornhub, YouPorn, and other scandal-ridden adult platforms.
🔹 At the time, the company’s leadership was also embroiled in a major tax scandal.
💥 Wirecard, however, embraced Manwin with open arms.
According to insiders, Wirecard acted as Manwin’s primary financial partner in Germany until at least 2015. The Wirecard account manager reportedly enabled transactions that other banks would have blocked due to compliance concerns, as revealed by FinanceFWD.
By 2017, Wirecard was still processing payments for over 4,000 porn and dating websites. The high profit margins in these transactions even raised suspicions of money laundering.
Wirecard’s Legacy: The Birth of Payabl
Several former Wirecard executives, including Dietmar Knoechelmann and Ruediger Trautmann, played a key role in the company’s high-risk operations.
📌 While still working at Wirecard, they founded PowerCash21 and Inatec, which later became Payabl.
📌 Payabl, now licensed in Cyprus, has emerged as a Wirecard successor, continuing to serve high-risk clients in porn, gambling, and online trading.
💰 Despite ethical concerns, high-risk payment processing remains a highly profitable business.
Share Your Information
If you have any details about Wirecard, Payabl, or other high-risk payment processors, please share them through our whistleblower platform, Whistle42.