A couple of weeks ago, credit card giant MasterCard shocked US online gamblers by announcing that it would block all US online gambling payments. Visa, another prominent credit card company has decided to follow suit.
The credit card company has announced that it would step out of the US online gaming industry, a move that prevents US online gamblers from using their Visa credit cards to fund their online gaming accounts. The gaming industry is still not sure about the effects of this decision on Canadian gamblers.
Neither of the two credit card companies have stated reasons for their sudden decisions. However, the common opinion is that both companies are acting in obedience to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which is soon to be implemented.
The future implementation of the UIGEA, which will make online gaming illegal in the US, has led to a number of international companies stepping out of the US gambling market. However, if the law is not implemented, the two major companies might regret their hasty retreat from a $12 billion industry.
Since Visa and MasterCard have stepped out of the online gaming scenario, US online gamblers can no longer use their credit cards to fund their accounts. This development could greatly benefit eWallets because, with Visa and MasterCard out of the US online gaming scenario, gamblers are left with no other payment option. Since most eWallets function along the same lines as PayPal, they give players an ideal payment processing solution till the UIEGA is implemented.