My business is a victim of Operation Choke Point—a government program run by the U.S. Department of Justice—which shuts down businesses it doesn’t like by cutting off their access to banks and payment processors. In my case, that’s TomKat Ammunition, which sells ammunition in Maryland.
As with any new business, my business partner and I started by applying for bank accounts and the appropriate federal state, and local permits. In December 2013, we opened a business checking account with PNC Bank, but when we applied for the bank’s online gateway services, we were denied and told they could not extend us services due to our “industry.”
PNC Bank’s gateway service is supposed to “enable any business to process credit card transactions via a secure online gateway.” It said nothing on their website about offering their services to only select industries.
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