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A women-owned Kiwi sexual wellness brand has claimed it was denied a business account with the Bank of New Zealand as the nature of its operations were “outside of BNZ policy”.

Girls Get Off, a New Zealand-based sex toy and accessory brand, was co-founded by Viv Conway and Jo Cummins in March 2021. The online business, which went on to win People’s Choice at the Tauranga Business Awards that year, has since expanded its operations to Australia, with plans to continue growing overseas.

The brand has also built a successful presence on social media: at the time of writing, the Girls Get Off Instagram boasts a following of almost 120,000, while a private Facebook community has close to 40,000 members.

But an application to open a business account with BNZ was denied, Conway told the Herald.

An email from the bank supplied to the Herald stated that BNZ wouldn’t “be able to progress [the] application as the business operations are outside of BNZ policy”.

Conway said they had wanted to change banks and had heard “good feedback” from friends who had used BNZ. However, they were shocked when the application for an account was flagged as “prohibited” - and it wasn’t the first time.

“It’s not the first time we’ve been pushed back by a bank. I’m pretty sure we got denied by Kiwibank in the past because they didn’t want to deal with the nature of our business,” Conway told the Herald.

“We’ll just go somewhere else.”

In a statement to the Herald, a spokesperson for BNZ said it was unable to comment on “an individual or potential customer’s details without a privacy waiver”.

“However, speaking generally, businesses that are classified as offering adult services are required to complete additional checks,” it continued.

“In some cases, our digital onboarding process declines applications as the required checks haven’t been met and more information is required.

“In these instances, we are happy to continue to work with customers to complete the necessary requirements.”

Girls Get Off founders Jo Cummins and Viv Conway. Photo / Supplied

Banking is not the only area where the brand has faced additional hurdles. Girls Get Off has also faced “pushback” when it comes to social media, Conway said, as tech giant Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, has strict policies on what advertising is permitted on its platforms. Its community standards prohibit ads depicting or signifying “sexually suggestive activities”, including masturbation.

“We [also] get pushback from Meta - we can’t do advertising. I can understand when you want to control what content shows up on a platform, like someone’s BDSM gear,” Conway said.

“But when it comes to sexual wellbeing - and you’ve got the petrol station down the road selling cigarettes - I’d be very surprised to hear if they have any issues opening bank accounts. I think that’s where the frustration comes in for us.

“You get pushed back on simply having a bank account, when there’s other businesses that arguably perpetuate more harm in society ... I wonder if the TAB has trouble getting a bank account?” Conway laughed.

“I would argue that gambling does more harm to society than selling vibrators.”

But Conway said she and Cummins are determined not to let setbacks impact their ultimate goal of “bringing sexual wellbeing into the open”.

“I had an email from someone in their 70s asking me for advice around a certain topic. We get testimonials and feedback from women of all ages who throughout their lives, might have experienced different levels of shame ... and the conversations and content online have allowed them to go, ‘This is actually normal - nothing bad comes from talking about pleasure’. Their relationships are improving, their lives are improving, they’re feeling more confident,” she explained.

“By saying that we can’t have bank accounts, it just further feeds that taboo and shame around the topic, when it’s really not something that should be that way. We’re talking about wellbeing.”

Girls Get Off came from humble beginnings, evolving from a conversation over socially distanced drinks during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown to an internationally recognised brand.