Poker websites ban credit cards

Gaming websites look set to ban customers making payments by MasterCard and Visa. Is this the end of players using their credit card to make online deposits?

The ability to use your visa or MasterCard when playing on-line could soon be a thing of the past if recent stories are to be believed. Rumours are circulating that gaming websites will ban the use of visa and MasterCard as the financial institutions have been told to begin measures to stop customers from using their cards to make payments to on-line casinos, bingo halls and poker rooms in states where on-line gaming is illegal.

It is unclear at the time of writing whether cards carrying the visa logo will be blacklisted, but it seems that MasterCard have already made significant moves to prevent deposits being made. Players that previously thought they were beyond the law may now find their payments tracked if they continue to visit restricted sites.

It has been reported that the financial institutions have been given until July to comply with new legislation in accordance with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. In guidelines set out by UIGA, financial institutions should not facilitate the deposit of money via credit card to gambling sites such as on-line poker rooms, casinos and bingo halls. If the institutions fail to comply, they could technically be legally prosecuted.

The Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act was created by the Bush Administration in 2006 in a bid to curb on-line gambling. Law makers in the United States continue to lobby for the establishment of a regulated online gaming system to replace this all-encompassing Act. Since its inception acceptance levels for US players have decreased, despite the United States being the leading number one market for online gambling. But the measures so far seem to have had little impact on consumers as more and more people log on and play.

This latest move is designed to crack down on illegal gaming in the United States by targeting the loop holes currently being exploited by players across the country and if such an outright outlaw did occur, it could cost the online poker companies hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. At the moment however, there are still plenty of payment options available to those wanting to make deposits to on-line sites including bankwires, echecks and PayPal. There are also other credit card companies that don't yet fall under the UIGA jurisdiction.