In a move that came as a surprise to many in the industry, Mastercard last week began taking active blocking measures against US players attempting to make deposits at online gambling sites.
Despite the fact that the UIGEA implementation deadline had been pushed back from December 2009 to June 2010 by Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke and co. at the urging of Barney Frank, Mastercard have decided to begin blocking transactions now. It is rumored that VISA will be soon to follow suit.
Little appears to be known about the precise reason for the action, particularly in light of the implementation reprieve, although there is speculation that is may have been prompted by a recent Court of Appeals decision surrounding the prosecution of Canadian payment processor Douglas Rennick on bank fraud and money laundering charges.
The timing has hit sports betting operations hard, with the measures beginning on the eve of the Super Bowl - traditionally their heaviest betting period.
An interesting sub-text to this piece, is the that fact that this move coincides with UC Groups establishment of a US based payment processing subsidiary that is to headed up by ex-Mastercard executives. So while Mastercard are shutting the door on online gambling, former senior executives are betting that regulation and a green light for payment processors is around the corner.
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