Making online funding too difficult

[impy3]

Well it really makes it hard in US because now you can just buy prepaid credit cards like they are going out of style at the drug store, even if you are a minor. So now when you try to fund a poker account it is very difficult because of all the restrictions that are put in place on what you can do with your own money and they automatically assume that you are like 9 years old trying to gamble on the internet.

[kelkat]

I hadn't thought about it before you mentioned it, but I wonder how many minors were gambling on line? I mean how could you really police such a thing anyway?

[Avian]

You really can't. That's the internet for you. You never know who exactly is sitting in front of that computer. I've actually never seen anywhere, where you could get a real prepaid "credit" card without a guardian present. A lot of their polices are also part of the anti-gambling campaign started by a lot of the credit card companies and paypal.

[ester11]

Well I noticed that most of the money services online are noe restricting what you spend your money on. My friend told me he used to gamble online in 1999 via funding his pay pal account. i dont understand the fuss, its not like we are purchasing things that are outlawed in our own countries.

[Mika Ollila]

On Nov. 10, Antigua won a World Trade Organization ruling that the U.S. violates international trade rules by, among other things, allowing credit cards to be used for domestic gambling but not online wagering.

Is it not the same thing that they are trying to pull off now?

http://www.antiguawto.com/

[winningedge]

pretty much.. the credit card thing has actually been around for a while.. the main caveat of the current bill is the elimination of EFTs as a method of payment.. There are so any ways around it though, I hope that we will see some of them in the future.. somoeen is going to get rich off of this legislation, they'll just never be able to set foot on US soil again

[Avian]

Was the restriction on credit card use an actual law? I thought that it was just part of the movement by the major payment processors and credit card companies to become the moral police. Internet payment processors did a similar act on adult websites.

[sub-zero]

I've never been able to get my credit card to work on any of the sites that I play on. I called my bank on it one time and they said that they do not allow online gambling charges on the card because of all the fraud and liability that is rampant in online gambling. And I guess I can see their point, they are watching out for my well-being, but wouldn't that also dis-allow anyone with one of these pre-paid cards from playing as well?

[hdbadboy1997]

Winningedge.. what are those ways around the EFT funding issue?
I used to use Firepay and now they are out. Neteller won't let me transfer funds either. How do you do it?

[Avian]

I'd never thought about the credit card companies actually having a valid reason. It would be really easy to launder money out of a stolen credit card through a gambling site. I'm not sure that there are going to be a lot of online processors that will accept anything resembling American money, but it would probably be possible to route it through an offshore bank to throw them off.

[pokerwhiz]

I'm still using Neteller without any restrictions. I've transferred money both ways since the bill was signed, and even used InstaCash.

As I understand it, banks are going to have a hard time blocking Neteller because it does not accept "bets or wagers...". It has about 3500 other vendors, non gambling, and is much like Paypal and the others.

Also, the paper trail is somewhat being ignored. Banks are saying it is impossible to look at every check processed (manually look) and determine if it is from a gambling site. Therefore, "if" that is all true (as Dr. Rose the gambling guru on legal issues says). Neteller at worst, will send you a check when you want a withdrawal. I am sure they will find a way for us to fund to Neteller also.

The other obvious solution... Canadian banks will start popping up all over the internet. They will offer U.S. residents accounts. Neteller can then either take or deposit into that account. The player would then just write a check out of their Canadian bank account. Or, send the Canadian bank a deposit when they want to fund their account.

Seems logical to me... that's all assuming the law stays intact. My opinion (worth about .25 cents on the open market) is that once the November elections are over, that the new congress, probably made up of mostly newly elected Democrats, will "adjust" the bill and find a way to regulate it (and collect money), and put some kind of "tranfer tax" to these gaming sites..

I will get off my soap box now..

[Mika Ollila]

As I understand it, banks are going to have a hard time blocking Neteller because it does not accept "bets or wagers...". It has about 3500 other vendors, non gambling, and is much like Paypal and the others.

To further distance and protect its business from this law, Neteller just announced a feature last week that allows its merchants (read poker rooms etc) the freedom to block money transfers from specific countries if they wish. So in effect Neteller is washing its hands and passing the ball to gambling sites, and sending out a neutral message.

In an enhancement to the NetDirect merchant platform, the Company has released
new capabilities which allow merchants the freedom to define which global markets
they wish to operate in. These new features work by enabling merchants to maintain
country black-lists that block any money transfers from customers in those countries.

http://investors.neteller.com/netell...oct06FINAL.pdf

[pokerwhiz]

Just use Neteller, at least until the dust settles. Banks are going to take months to figure out who/how they are going to block transactions. They have 270 days, 9 months for those without a calculator, to propose to the Fed how or what they can and cannot do. Good luck

[ladygirl99]

I'm still using Neteller without any restrictions. I've transferred money both ways since the bill was signed, and even used InstaCash.

As I understand it, banks are going to have a hard time blocking Neteller because it does not accept "bets or wagers...". It has about 3500 other vendors, non gambling, and is much like Paypal and the others.

Also, the paper trail is somewhat being ignored. Banks are saying it is impossible to look at every check processed (manually look) and determine if it is from a gambling site. Therefore, "if" that is all true (as Dr. Rose the gambling guru on legal issues says). Neteller at worst, will send you a check when you want a withdrawal. I am sure they will find a way for us to fund to Neteller also.

The other obvious solution... Canadian banks will start popping up all over the internet. They will offer U.S. residents accounts. Neteller can then either take or deposit into that account. The player would then just write a check out of their Canadian bank account. Or, send the Canadian bank a deposit when they want to fund their account.

Seems logical to me... that's all assuming the law stays intact. My opinion (worth about .25 cents on the open market) is that once the November elections are over, that the new congress, probably made up of mostly newly elected Democrats, will "adjust" the bill and find a way to regulate it (and collect money), and put some kind of "tranfer tax" to these gaming sites..

I will get off my soap box now..

I am so praying for these newly elected Democrats will adjusted the bill. It sickens me of this crap government telling people what they can or can not do in their private homes. I understand if they dealing with child porn or something but something like online gambling come on.

[blf2much]

Well I know one site quit taking mastercards because of underage issues but they were still accepting visa. I didnt understand this rule.

[spunky]

It is definitely a pain and nothing but one big hassle. I cant help but wonder if with prepaid cards just how many minors have been playing. I heard that a lot of people are still using neteller as their funding source.

[comrade4]

Credit cards from US work at a few sites, including Absolute, because they re-route them. On your credit card bill, it shows up as a clothing purchase from online or some other random online purchase that has nothing to do with gambling. Shady, but possibly the only way.