BRAM, Mastercard’s Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation program, polices transactions that are illegal or damaging to the network’s brand: child sexual abuse material, non consensual content, unlawful pharmaceuticals, IP infringement and similar categories. Visa runs an equivalent under its Global Brand Protection Program. Violations trigger assessments against the acquirer, which passes them to the merchant, often alongside termination.
Why it matters
BRAM is the reason adult platforms enforce performer verification, consent documentation and content moderation at the level they do: the card networks made acquirers liable for what merchants sell, and acquirers made merchants prove compliance. For adult, CBD, nutra and marketplace businesses, BRAM compliance is a condition of keeping card acceptance at all. The fines are large, but the real penalty is that a BRAM termination makes every future acquirer conversation start from “why were you terminated”.