Payments When You Are on GamStop Lists

In this day and age, online gambling is fast becoming one of the most popular forms of adult entertainment on the UK internet. Unfortunately, the number of UK online gambling problems is proportionately increasing as well. That has led the UK Gambling Commission to mandate that all licensed online gambling operators subscribe to a “self-exclusion” program called “GamStop.”

Details About GamStop

GamStop is a very intricate self-exclusion program. In fact, all licensed UK online gambling sites are required to subscribe to the GamStop scheme or risk having their online gambling operator’s license revoked. 

For the most part, GamStop member gambling sites offer easy-to-find access to the GamStop program. Problem gamblers, who are seeking help, can voluntarily register for free. Through the registration process, they are clearly informing the UK licensed online gambling community that they want help staying away from gambling sites. 

The good news is the program is very effective at blocking a GamStop gambler’s access until their self-prescribed exclusion period expires. The bad news is it still leaves GamStop gamblers with a lot of other ways to continue their online gambling activities.

Ways to Get Around the GamStopScheme

As we mentioned above, there are ways that GamStop gamblers can get around their self-exclusion if they are really motivated to do so. The list of options includes:

• Taking their online gambling activities to online gambling jurisdictions in other countries

• Registering with UK gambling sites that aren’t UKGC licensed or GamStop subscribed

• Confining their gambling activities to retail casinos and sportsbooks

• Using Bitcoin casinos that offer lots of anonymity

• Partnering with a trusted friend or relative to open an online gambling account under the other person’s identity

If you by chance are a GamStop gambler, you might be wondering how being on GamStop’s list will affect your ability to fund other gambling accounts. We will cover that in the next section.

Do Payment Providers Block GamStop Gamblers?

As part of this discussion, we want to make something very clear. GamStop is a gambling-specific self-exclusion program. It involves a contractual agreement between licensed UK online gambling operators and the customers they serve. The contract calls for operators to block online gambling access for any and all GamStop registered gamblers. What the contractual agreement doesn’t include is how payment processors will treat GamStop gamblers.

It’s worth noting that payment providers will not be privy to an online gambler’s self-exclusion status. Therefore, they have no basis for not processing payments if a customer is wanting to gamble through any option that requires online funding of gambling accounts. 

That’s not to say the UK government does have laws regarding the funding of online gambling accounts. In fact, they do have some laws that are intended to interfere with online gambling activities. By law, credit card processing companies and banks are not supposed to approve deposit transactions that are going to online gambling websites. 

How does this affect UK online gamblers who are registered with GamStop?

Payment Processing for GamStop Gamblers

First of all, there is evidence that gamblers can use credit cards to fund their UK and offshore gambling accounts. While it is technically illegal, it’s also very difficult to track and monitor. If issues do arise, it’s the credit card processing companies and banks that are typically called to task.

For GamStop gamblers, they are not generally over-concerned with how they are going to fund their gambling activities. If they choose to do a little retail gambling, they will typically hit the ATM machine on the way to the casino or sportsbook. So how do GamStop gamblers fund their online gambling accounts?

Funding Non-GamStop Online Gambling Accounts in UK

For the most part, non-GamStop gambling sites in the UK will accept the same banking options as their GamStop subscribed counterparts. If a GamStopgambler locates non-GamStop PayPal casinos in the UK through Casino-Wise.com, those sites are viable PayPal option. Many of these sites will accept eWallet options and even Bitcoin (in some cases) as well. 

Funding Offshore Online Gambling Accounts

Should a GamStop gambler decide to take their business abroad, they would have to abide by the terms and conditions set forth in those jurisdictions. While credit/debit card processing might be an issue, most foreign online gambling operators will accept popular eWallet options like Skrill, Neteller, and PaySafeCard. There is also a growing number of offshore online operators that are willing to accept PayPal and cryptocurrencies.

Funding Bitcoin Online Gambling Accounts

As cryptos like Bitcoin increase in popularity as a means of exchange within the online gambling community, we are seeing an increase in the availability of crypto or Bitcoin-only casinos. 

From a pure gambling account funding perspective, this might well be the best option for GamStopgamblers. Since crypto transactions are created under the cover of anonymity, Crypto-only online operators tend to honor that anonymity. They allow gamblers to make deposits and withdrawals with crypto with little to no identity verification. Of course, that means they will have no way to know if a customer is registered with GamStop or not.

Other benefits a GamStop gambler might derive from using crypto-only casinos and sportsbooks would include:

• Low to no processing fees

• The promise of bigger bonus offers

• Higher deposit and withdrawal limits due to lower risk factors

• Faster payment processing

Based on all of the above information, you can conclude that you will have plenty of ways to fund your non-GamStop gambling accounts regardless of your GamStop status.