Visa joins MasterCard in blocking deposits for gambling

Visa has now joined MasterCard in blocking all online gambling deposits for US players in a move believed to have been influenced by the upcoming UIGEA. It was only a couple of weeks ago that MasterCard made a similar announcement and although the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act was passed in 2006, it is only due to come into force in June this year unless the Barney Frank supporters can change it. It seems that the credit card companies are not confident of any changes being forthcoming and are pulling out now. When MasterCard made their move they quoted one of the reasons to be an increase in the number of “miscoding” transactions. Credit card companies have all agreed a system whereby they can identify the type of account to which money is being transferred and if it is a gambling company they are supposed to use a particular code. Some online casinos, by using a different code are hiding their true identity and an increase in this practise is leaving credit card companies vulnerable so they are shutting up shop completely. Until the UIGEA becomes effective there are still methods for the American gamblers to use, namely e-wallets such as PayPal, Neteller and Moneybookers. For Irish or UK punters there is no concern as they are not affected by this action and can continue to use their preferred payment method. It is not clear at the moment whether Canadian customers are affected.