Online
Gambling Ban Will Burden Financial Institutions
It has been reported
that the United States Chamber of Commerce has reviewed the
proposed bill to ban all forms of internet gambling and online
casinos, and it feels that the strict regulatory controls will
place an unnaturally large and unnecessary burden on the
financial institutions to control transactions that their
customers make.
The bill to ban online casinos and internet gambling in the
United States has already passed through the House of
Representatives and is being reviewed in the Senate. The
legislation aims to prohibit credit card companies and banks
from allowing their customers to make payments to online
casinos.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is contesting the online casinos
ban because the changes that would have to be made to their
processing system would be at a huge financial cost. The
legislation would call for all non coded transactions – for
example checks – to be investigated to see if they are related
to online casinos and internet gambling. The Chamber of Commerce
claims it is not taking a stance on internet gambling and online
casinos but warns that the changes necessary to enforce the ban
would put many companies under enormous financial strain.
The United States Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest
business federation and numbers its members at over three
million companies and organizations. The Chamber of Commerce is
not the only organization to oppose online casinos and the
Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act. Many trade
associations have written to the United States Senate Committee
on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs including the Independent
Community Bankers of America urging the Senate to carefully
review the bill and make amendments to the pending legislation.
The Community Bankers of America also feel that the legislation
will create an "impossible compliance burden" for uncoded
transactions to the online casinos and will make the banks and
electronic processors who provide facility for these
transactions to online casinos liable for prosecution.
If the bill passes in the Senate the outcome will be devastating
for the online casinos industry that rely on the U.S section of
its business to provide more than half of the $12 billion
revenue that was made last year. Some of the biggest online
casinos claimed that the American market made up for almost 90%
of its customers.
Online casinos are finding ways to circumvent the payment
methods. It is proving difficult to use some credit cards for
gambling purposes and most of the American customers do their
gambling via a number of internet companies or eWallet
companies. These companies provide secure payments to any number
of internet merchants, not just online casinos and betting
companies.
The online casinos debate is being fiercely fought in the US.
Even opponents of gambling feel that it is an individuals right
to choose how they spend their money. They believe that it is up
to family and friends to protect vulnerable members of society
not to punish the collective whole by banning internet gambling.
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