Revolut to ban credit card deposits to gambling sites in Ireland
Banking app Revolut will block credit card payments to gambling sites in Ireland.
The decision was taken after an inquiry showed that betting firms in the country are taking advantage of credit card payments made through contactless apps such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and Revolut.
Currently, direct credit card betting is banned under Irish industry rules.
A Revolut Spokesperson commented: “Revolut is planning to block the use of credit card funds on gambling sites in Ireland, in the same way that we do in the UK. This is in addition to the 48-hour gambling block that all users can currently activate themselves.”
The banking app can be funded via a credit card, bank withdrawal or debit card.
The company has developed a technology that identifies payments drawn specifically from credit cards to stop them from being used for gambling sites.
Since in the UK credit cards payments for gambling purposes are banned under penalty of fines, the system is currently used to separate debit and credit cards for gambling sites in the country.
According to betting operators, credit card payments that go through Revolut and Apple Pay in Ireland are a “loophole” that isn’t available to them in the UK.
The Irish Bookmakers Association, which oversees the country’s voluntary Safer Gambling Code, said operators have not “technically broken the credit card gambling rules.”
A spokesperson for Paddy Power also commented, suggesting it is unknown how much the operator would lose as a result of Revolut’s decision, as the company does not know which payments made via the banking app come from credit cards.
Revolut currently has 1.5 million users in Ireland.
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