This week both MasterCard and Visa have stopped doing business with BackPage.com, a well known site that provides a “cloak of anonymity” for traffickers and generates an estimated $22 Million annually from ads promoting the sex trade.  

“Frustrated, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart decided he would try to put pressure on the credit card companies, which are essential to Backpage’s lifeline.  …

Dart argued that by taking away the ease of a credit card to advertise, often underage girls who have been forced into the situation, MasterCard and Visa can help reduce the number of victims.”

American Express stopped doing business with the website earlier this year. 

You can read the full stories here:

Mastercard:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/06/30/mastercard-ceases-doing-business-backpage/29536177/

Visa: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/07/01/visa-mastercard-stop-business-with-backpage/29558315/