The US financial technology company PayPal has announced that Gamban will become part of its online payment processing service.
The introduction of the blocking software of Gamban will provide customers of online casinos and sportsbooks with the chance to ban themselves from gambling services. As Casino Guardian previously reported, the Gamban software is used to provide players who are considered at risk or more susceptible to gambling-related harm with the opportunity to better control their spending habits and make sure they stay away from gambling.
As a result of PayPal’s decision to roll out Gamban’s blocking software, its customers would be able to block online payments towards both games of skill and games of chance.
But not only traditional casino games and card games such as blackjack, craps, keno, pai gow poker, sic bo, pachinko, etc. are included in the new gambling payments blocks. PayPal customers would also be able to suspend their online payments for race betting and other forms of sports betting, including sweepstakes, simple sports betting and activities from pari-mutuel betting to off-track betting. Dedicated exchanges’ peer-to-peer services are also included in the available exclusions in the Gamban blocking software. Customers will be able to also suspend payments for purchasing lottery tickets.
PayPal’s Announcement Follows Recent Findings of Loophole Allowing Credit Card Gambling Payments in Ireland
PayPal’s move comes after a recent investigation of the Irish Independent has found out that online gambling payments with credit cards are still accepted by some of the biggest gambling operators in the UK, although such practice has already been forbidden. As the media hub’s investigation found, in Ireland there is currently a loophole allowing the use of credit cards for gambling and betting transactions.
Furthermore, there are various financial services, such as PayPal, Revolut, Google Pay and Apple Pay, which are linked to customers’ credit cards. According to reports, many online gambling companies take advantage of this and use third-party payment apps to process credit card payments without technically violating the Safer Gambling Code rules.
As Casino Guardian reported, the British financial technology company Revolut announced its decision to block credit card payments to online gambling operators in Ireland right after the aforementioned revelations were made public.
Now, PayPal said that it can also roll out further measures aimed at spending habits control in order to help customers avoid legislative loopholes such as the third-party payment apps which are often used for sending money to services that facilitate online gambling or transfer money to offshore digital gambling platforms.
The newly-unveiled solution has come as an extra to the already existing self-exclusion options provided by GamCare and GAMSTOP that allow gamblers to ban themselves from gambling services available off- and online.
Gamban blocking software highlights the importance of payment processors being more involved with transactions associated with gambling companies. For the time being, there is no data indicating how much money people spend on gambling by using PayPal.
- Author
Olivia Cole
