Mastercard Attempts to Block Online Gambling Charges

It may not be easy opening an online betting account this weekend for the Super Bowl using your Mastercard as that company has announced it is blocking transactions to online gambling websites.

Actually, this is nothing new to the online gambling sector as credit card companies have long tried to block such transactions prior to the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in October 2006.  UIGEA policy enforcement was not to become effective until July of this year, and even then there could be further delays.   UIGEA makes some forms of money transactions through online gambling illegal.  Betting businesses currently cannot pay back customers via credit cards but instead offer the option of payment via check through UPS or FedEX.

But the Super Bowl season typically represents a time when credit card processing becomes especially difficult and this has long been the case. 

Many of the top online gambling enterprises use payment processors that regularly change coding to prevent such blockages. 

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher