Paypal is Liberating Online Gambling – Here’s How
The current quarantine has meant many have no access to physical avenues to satisfy their appetite for gambling. While some bookie betting markets have endured through this period – for instance, virtual horse racing, some of the more obscure football leagues and even meteorological events – the digital betting space continues to be an attractive alternative while certain routes are shut off and beyond. Particularly, it’s the sector known as iGaming, which includes all real-money games taking place online, that serves those who frequent land-based casinos and bookmakers.
Even where such online gaming is fully legal, though, payment options often remain an issue. Certain financial institutions have been limiting interactions with such operators, which means that players are no longer able to use certain payment methods to make deposits at online casinos – for instance, credit cards.
A Practical Choice
While real money gambling is legal in many US states from Delaware to New Jersey and Nevada, and across the world, the issue of banks not allowing their customers to use certain types of cards on online gambling sites goes back several years, in some cases, and begs one clear question: why?
As they are businesses looking for growth and revenue, it seems hard to imagine why certain financial institutions would turn away from an industry that Statista sized at $46 billion in September 2019. What’s more, that is forecast to double in the upcoming years. It turns out the decision by many firms, including industry giants like Wells Fargo and J.P Morgan, comes down to the bottom line. American Express spokeswoman Sanette Chao concurred in a 2014 interview with the Las Vegas Journal: “Gambling services, historically, account for a high number of card member credit losses and customer service disputes.”
A Quick Fix
While these issues have done gambling no favors in the banks’ opinion, the undeniable size, consistent growth and digital capabilities of iGaming brands have drawn many to the online world, and iGaming has long been established as a popular alternative to land-based betting shops, casinos and bingo parlors. Naturally, these players want a stable deposit method, even if the banks refuse to play a part. That route, it seems, is Paypal – and it’s no wonder, either.
It seems that most US online casinos offer Paypal as a deposit method, and the massive availability of mobile betting has meant that when you prefer Paypal casinos, you’re able to circumvent those restrictive policies. Offering Paypal deposits is now an important criterion for many looking to find an online casino to play with. In fact, it’s often tied to the many sign-up and deposit bonuses you can access when choosing online casinos to play with.
An Irresistible Opportunity?
Paypal has revealed itself to be a remarkably simple and effective deposit method for online casinos and bookies. The sheer size of the online gambling industry proves that this e-wallet system is one of a handful of companies that have been able to pick up the slack. Physical gambling is likely to be consistently outperformed by online for the same reasons that many digital versions of traditional services have done the same. It’s accessible anywhere, anytime, and, as long as the deposit system is available, it’s easier to transact money. You certainly don’t need to carry a cup of quarters around with you, either.
Fundamentally, Paypal casinos will, therefore, only enjoy more attention as a result of this. If the appetite of traditional banks remains sour towards this industry, it’s undeniably the simplest fix. Whether banks will be able to continue to ignore the clear opportunity that online gambling poses, and allow Paypal to keep servicing the millions of gambling customers it does, is another question altogether.
