Gab.com, the anti-censorship, free speech platform, has announced the launch of a payment processing service that the company claims will not discriminate against clients based on vaccination status or politics.
Founded in 2016 as a platform to counter the rising censorship policies of big tech, Gab.com was earlier blocked by major pro-left payment processors, with Mastercard and Visa banning the company from accepting their debit and credit cards.
In its FAQ page, the payment service, called GabPay, alleges that major monopolies have “hijacked” payment processing sectors. To cripple these “woke” processing companies, people should first “vote” with their dollars and use payment methods “that don’t contribute to causes we directly oppose.”
Third-party aggregators like Stripe, Paypal, and Square have automated systems that bulk approve merchants. Their policy is to approve as many merchants as possible initially and then cancel them later if these firms do not meet their criteria, including political ideologies.
“In contrast, we are committed to thoroughly reviewing every business that passes our way and can give the most honest advice. We pledge never to discriminate based on political ideology or your vaccination status. We pre-vet each company according to national banking standards and provide recommendations accordingly. We also pride ourselves on placing businesses that others deem ‘high risk’ or ‘hard to place’ and finding solutions when others cannot,” the company states.
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GabPay was first announced by Gab CEO and founder Andrew Torba back in August. Unlike PayPal or Stripe, GabPay is not a payment aggregator but a dedicated merchant account provider. Hence, it is presently only ideal for those who are processing more than $2,000 per month. Individuals or entities wishing to join GabPay will first have to send in an application, then be interviewed by third parties, and finally have the application reviewed by a bank underwriter.
In addition to the United States, GabPay is currently available to businesses from European nations like France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium.
Although the joining process at GabPay takes more time than other payment alternatives, the company promises that no one will be discriminated against based on their ideology. GabPay is also planning to soon launch an app that will allow person-to-person instant money transfers.
After Gab was blacklisted by payment companies like Stripe and Paypal, it had used 2nd Amendment Processing as its payment processor. In a post announcing the partnership in Jan. 2019, Gab had insisted on maintaining people’s right to free speech as guaranteed by the American constitution.
“Gab.com operates on one rule: if political speech is legal in the United States, that speech is allowed on Gab… Companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, Netflix, Patreon, Square, and Stripe disagree with this proposition, and believe not only that it is morally correct to dictate to Internet users what opinions we are and are not allowed to hold, but that it is morally correct to deplatform any company that disagrees with the California consensus,” the company said in a post.
