February 16, 2010 (CAP Newswire) – As world-dominating credit card processors MasterCard and Visa take steps to eliminate their involvement with the online gambling industry, online gamblers are being encouraged to switch to e-wallets and other alternative forms of payment when visiting online casinos and Internet poker rooms.
As the fallout from this move sets in, the most frustrating aspect for players may be the lack of info. “The players are not notified,” an industry expert recently told Poker News Daily. “The deposits go through and they will still be billed for the transaction. The issue is that the gaming company never receives the funds, as they are ‘intercepted.’ The processor the gaming company used then has their account with MasterCard closed and they are fined; this is usually passed on to the gaming company directly.”
For more explanation of just what the credit card crackdown means to players, read the rest of Poker News Daily’s story, here.
Meanwhile, one British company is stepping in to fill in the gap left by the exit of the credit card processors from the huge online gambling industry. U.K.-based UC Group Ltd. has announced the launch of SecureTrading Inc., a new subsidiary to be based in the New York area and set up to service the online casinos and Internet poker industry.
Most noteworthy about the new company is that it will be led by three former high-level MasterCard executives: Ted Friedman, MasterCard’s former global head of credit products; Chris Thom, former chief risk officer for MasterCard; and T.J. Sharkey, “who led merchant sales strategy for MasterCard’s PayPass implementation,” according to the Danbury, Connecticut News-Times newspaper.
“That’s the key legislation that underpins what our business is all about. Right now, the bill is in Frank’s committee. It’s got 65 co-sponsors and bi-partisan support,” Friedman said in the article, referring to Barney Frank’s efforts to repeal the UIGEA. “We’re not a gambling operator. We provide the behind-the-scenes systems to the gambling operator.”
The new company’s business model is specifically to comply with new online gambling financial regulations that are outlined in Barney Frank’s current bill to legalize and regulate online gambling. Click here to read more at the News-Times.