The company said its two banking partners, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America, has pressured it to enforce the policies.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said he approved of software firm Intuit’s decision to reverse a ban on gun companies from accessing its payroll and payment processing services.
Prior to Aug. 1, 2023, Intuit had prohibited gun sellers and manufacturers from using the full features of its QuickBooks service, an accounting software. Firearm manufacturers were not allowed to access QuickBooks’ payroll services, while entities that sold guns were ineligible for QuickBooks’ payment processing services.
However, the company has now changed course.
“I welcome Intuit’s reversal of its policy that had forbidden gun manufacturers and sellers from using certain QuickBooks services,” Mr. Cruz said in a Sept. 25 letter (pdf) to the company. “Intuit’s recent decision to allow such businesses to use the company’s payroll and payment services—a change prompted by my staff’s oversight investigation—was long overdue.”
Mr. Cruz became aware of Intuit’s “discriminatory policies” when Dawson Precision, a Texas firearms parts manufacturer, informed his office that Inuit had, “without warning,” terminated the business’ subscription to QuickBooks payroll services, the letter said.
“Dawson Precision only discovered what had happened after it submitted payroll and, rather than receiving confirmation that payroll had been processed, received a notification that its payroll subscription had been terminated,” Mr. Cruz wrote. “Intuit later said that it canceled Dawson Precision’s account because, as a firearm manufacturer, it was in violation of Intuit’s acceptable use policy.”
Dawson Precision attempted to appeal the termination but did not succeed in reversing the cancellation. Due to Intuit’s actions, the firm had to print paper checks for several weeks.
Other Business Affected
When Intuit abruptly stopped providing credit card processing services to Arizona-based Gunsite Academy, it prevented the business from functioning efficiently, Mr. Cruz pointed out. The academy provided marksmanship training and sold guns. Intuit insisted that its policy bans businesses that engage in “non-face-to-face gun sales,” according to the letter.
Even when Gunsite Academy pointed out that it only shipped firearms to dealers and not directly to customers, Intuit refused to reverse its ban.
