News

Tuesday, 31 August 2010 11:55

Mastercard, dismayed at losing millions of dollars in transaction commissions from US online gambling clients have joined forces with InterCash to create a workable solution.

When the UIGEA swung into action on 1st June this year, rather than make it illegal for US citizens to gamble online, it made it illegal for banks and other financial institutions to process the monetary transactions of gamblers to and from online gambling websites. Both MasterCard and Visa kept their end of the bargain by following directions set out by the US Department of Justice and discontinued their processing services to customers using online gambling sites.

Unfortunately, MasterCard have found their business losing out significantly to this lucrative side of their financial services and went looking for a way to get it back. The solution came in the form of a joint venture with InterCash that has seen the creation of a new kind of credit card that when used by Internet gamblers does not break any of the rules set out in the UIGEA.

The new card is a prepaid version that has the added ability that users can use funds on the card to buy goods like any other credit card. The way it works is quite simple and effective.

1. A user loads funds to their card from their bank account

2, They use the card to transfer funds to their online casino account allowing them to play

3. When it's time to withdraw funds from the online casino account in the event of a winning streak, those funds transfer directly back to the prepaid card, effectively recharging it again.

4. The funds on the card can be used to make purchases in stores that accept MasterCard

This completely avoids any funds transactions having to be processed by MasterCard which means US players can carry on using online casinos and MasterCard are not breaking any laws.  

At present, Playtech casinos using their software accept the InterCash card which means that there is no special set up or integration for casino operators who can begin offering their players the option of using the new card as another very convenient and reliable option for making payments. In addition to this, any one of MasterCard's network of 29 million point of sale or ATM machines are available for use with the new card.

Patrick Seguev, CEO of InterCash said that his company is proud to be able to launch the MasterCard program on PlayTech's platform through one of their most extensive groups of sites, Fastengine. Players in the US now have a viable alternative to allow them to gamble online at casinos that accept US players.