German gamblers will continue playing online casino games without the PayPal payment option. The government has just ordered PayPal to prohibit all unauthorized online casino payments.
PayPal has also upgraded its terms and conditions by adding “offers that are not legal in your respective whereabouts, including some online gambling offers,” in the list of unallowed activities. The new terms will come to effect on October 21.
The German state named, Lower Saxony, revealed that it had an informed, unidentified international payment operator to cut off all connections with internationally accepted casino providers which are available to German customers without official permission. It is assumed that warned operator has been PayPal.
Schleswig-Holstein is the only local state which has granted online casino licenses. After expiration of issued licenses, the state reapproved them with the statement that online casino operators should stay away from marketing to customers outside Schleswig-Holstein. One online provider, GVC Holdings Bwin, has already excluded PayPal for online German players this past December.
At the moment, all 16 German states have plans to start interim licensing of online sports betting providers. For this purpose, qualifying operators will have to stop all connections with German-facing online gambling providers. It is expected that German states reach consensus until June 30, 2021.
German-facing providers have just attended a session in Hesse related to new gambling rules. It includes the prohibition of non-sports products, an in-play wagering ban, monthly spending amount of €1k per user as well as a tough 5% tax obligation on gambling turnover.
After the meeting, state ministers announced that they plan to reconsider a monthly spending limit of €1K. German online customers, on the other hand, should be prepared for harsh obligations including non-being listed on the central registry of self-excluded players. Local operators should also have separate licenses for advertising purposes on German ground.
However, all previous rules apply to the interim licensing timeframe which expires in 2021. Individual states should make the utmost endeavors to agree on more liberal gambling treaty and have better perspective to make money.
Source:
“PayPal cutting off German online casino payments in October“, Steven Stradbrooke, calvinayre.com, August 21, 2019.