Ban On Online Gambling Payments Ready to Launch

Gambling News - November 21st, 2009 - Written by Glen

In 2006, the Safe Port Act was passed. A subsection of the bill had included a veritable footnote to the effect that online gambling payments would soon become illegal to process. On December 1st, 2009, the full force of this sneaky addition to the bill, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, is set to go into effect.

An upheaval in the industry had occurred during the earliest days of the UIGEA. Though it had not yet been enforced, several of the largest online gambling providers had already pulled from the USA. PartyPoker and Microgaming, two of the great behemoths of online gambling, had pulled from the American market within months and years, respectively, of the passing of the UIGEA. Both companies suffered great losses, and in the case of PartyGaming, their then chairman, Anurag Dikshit, had faced the litigious arm of the United States government.

In just under two weeks time, financial institutions will be met with an ultimate - cease processing online gambling payments or suffer consequences. While several of the largest online payment processors for USA casino deposit methods have already been targeted, and it is expected that banks will make credit card deposits go the way of the dinosaur. E-wallets, such as UseMyWallet and eWalletXpress, are likely to become the only deposit methods that work with consistency.

Though online gambling will not disappear from the United States, making deposits may become a daunting task. Though the banks themselves will have to be solely responsible for blocking or processing these payments, the government is likely to step in in the event of an infraction. The player will always be protected from legal recourse, but banks may suffer fines or worse. Barney Frank, a Democrat in the House of Representatives, has concocted a convoluted bill to overturn the UIGEA, but has yet to push it through congress. With 63 cosponsors, the bill may become a reality, but until then, the UIGEA will weigh heavily on the shoulders of the banks, providers of online gambling, and players awaiting their deposits.

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