PayPal is one of the most popular payment methods. From 21 October 2019, the terms of use of the payment service provider shall be modified in such a way that there shall be no more payments to the gambling company – Online Casinos are specifically completely excluded.
Since the end of 2018, rumors have been circulating that PayPal will leave the German gambling market. Initially, with the turn of the year had not changed much, but then more and more gambling providers PayPal can no longer offer.
The reason for the withdrawal of PayPal was probably the problems of rebooking players who claimed that gambling operations were not legal. In most cases, out of court agreements had been reached with the payment service provider. After the withdrawal, the amendment of the general terms and conditions by PayPal as of 21 October 2019 follows.
What is the new PayPal terms and conditions?
Under the section “9.1. Prohibited activities“ has been added to a new paragraph, to provide important information in the Material clearly. You can read in the new terms and conditions of PayPal for this reason:
II. use of the PayPal Services in connection with offers that are not legal at your location, including some Online gambling offers. If you are unsure whether or not a specific offer is legal in your location, you must verify the legality of the offer before using the PayPal services;
For the reaction in part to the sharp criticism from consumer advocates as a criticism. For years, they have been warning of unsympathetic gambling offers and especially gambling problems due to the fast and easy deposits with PayPal. The company informed the press on demand to take this step :
With the expiration of the Online gambling licenses of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the offer of online casino games in Germany is prohibited or possibly tolerated.
Overall, the reaction remains a little funny. In Germany, Online sports betting is being attempted by January 2020, even if there is criticism from the EU. By the middle of 2021, a new state gambling treaty is to be negotiated, which also legalizes Online casino games, so that the grey areas disappear. Up to this date, the Schleswig-Holstein license of Online Casinos and sports betting providers is still valid.
Chargebacks and repayments could hit PayPal hard
According to estimates, the gaming turnover per day should be 90 million euros in Germany. PayPal is currently subject to a number of legal proceedings, in which players claim more than 150,000 euros, which they have deposited and gambled through PayPal in Online Casinos over the last 3 years. If the lawsuit were successful, it could have serious consequences for the company.
In June 2019, the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior had for the first time forbidden an international payment service provider to process transactions for gambling. The Interior Minister of the federal state Boris Pistorius (SPD) stated:
Payment service providers bear an important responsibility here.
The name of the company, which transactions to gambling providers were prohibited, was never mentioned publicly. The Handelsblatt is of the opinion, however, that usually well-informed circles Rumble, it was PayPal.
Search for PayPal Alternatives in the Online Casinos
If you are looking for good e-Wallets, you will hardly find equivalent replacement for PayPal. Skrill, Neteller, MuchBetter and ecoPayz are always called.
I had already presented Skrill and Neteller as e-Wallets in separate articles. In the end, these are Online credit accounts that you have to top up. Only then can you use the money. The payment service providers are not able to debit directly from an account like PayPal. Although this is positive in terms of cost control, it is complicated but deposits. In addition, you have to count on fees and can not accept bonuses with Skrill and Neteller deposits at all online Casinos.
A similar, but cheaper E-Wallet, is ecoPayz. I also introduced the e-Wallet in the past. From my point of view, the payment provider is Cheaper Than Skrill or Neteller, but unfortunately not accepted in many Online Casinos.
MuchBetter is currently advertised as a PayPal alternative. So far, there are no fees for deposits on the e-Wallet App. You also upload money to the App and then simply pay via the mobile device. The System is relatively simple and is integrated by more and more online Casinos. The advantage of all e-Wallets is that money is transferred to the respective payment service provider. Banks do not know what the money is used for or where it comes from. Therefore, there are no Connections to gambling for the Bank – chargebacks will not be possible.
Trustly, Sofortüberweisung and Giropay are also known payment methods on the Internet. But they are not a real Alternative. You always have to enter your Log-in data of the respective Bank and possibly a TAN during the payments. This makes deposits rather complicated. The best Alternatives to PayPal, therefore, are MuchBetter, and ecoPayz.
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