As an American company, PayPal gambling transactions have always been a bit of a risk. In fact, it was only a few weeks ago that we covered stories on PayPal freezing gambling funds for some of their customers. But things are changing, and the company not only sees these changes, they want their cut of the action.
PayPal is actually processing transaction for the online gambling industry, just not for players in the United States. At least not yet. The company recently changed their policy of prohibiting online gambling payments for customers in the United Kingdom. Customers there are currently using PayPal for online gambling transactions. And while Americans may be jealous, it is at least a step in the right direction.
Industry insiders are now taking notice of PayPal’s movement on this issue, and their suspicion is that the company is setting the table for return to the market. There has been a change of direction in the US, which now includes a possible appeal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed in 2006, which up-ended the grey area online gambling industry in America at the time.
If there were an appeal of the UIGEA, PayPal would be in a prime position to make buckets of money. PayPal gambling transactions could flow fast and furious as customers in the US would have a familiar, domestic payment processor at their disposal once again. But the company is taking things slow and proceeding with caution.
While the profit potential is certainly enormous, the company really wants to avoid any legal issues in America. But certainly, handling payments for online gambling companies in Britain is an about face for the company. Currently, PayPal gambling transactions are being processed in the UK for 32Red online casino, as well as several web based bingo sites.