PayPal to Cut Off German Online Casino Payments in October

Online gamblers in Germany who use PayPal to make online casino payments will no longer be able to do so. This news comes in the wake of the recent update of the payment service provider’s German language which, as it turns out, was influenced by an order from the country’s government.

According to PayPal’s newly updated guideline 9.1. Prohibited Activities, online casino gamblers in Germany will no longer be allowed to use its services “in connection with offers that are not legal in your respective whereabouts, including some online gambling offers.” In addition to that, the new guidelines further state that “if you are unsure as to whether or not a specific offer is legal in your place of residence, you must ensure that it is legal before using PayPal’s services in connection with the offer.”

Set to take effect on October 21, the new policy is definitely going to have a huge impact on the country’s online gambling industry which is already in a mess.

As it turns out, the crackdown on certain aspects of online gambling by the German government begun awhile back with the removal of PayPal as a payment service being one of the most significant moves in that regard. In June, an “unidentified international payment processor” was warned by the German State of Lower Saxony to suspend its relationships with online casino company’s operating in the country.

There were speculations that the online payment provider in question was PayPal and this seems to have been confirmed by its removal from the list of online payment providers that are allowed to service German players. As from October 21, PayPal will no longer be able to provide their services to online casinos, poker, as well as lottery products in Germany – these are all prohibited under the State Treaty on Gambling.

Gambling Regulations in Germany

The Germany gambling market has been in disarray and the country’s government has been trying to fix it for several years now. These attempts have however not been very fruitful thanks to a number of setbacks or hurdles. However, this may be about to change with the recent update of PayPal’s updated gambling policies which may be a sign that Germany may finally be ready to enforce the State Treaty on Gambling – there have been two previous attempts which were both unsuccessful.

The third version of the State Treaty on Gambling was signed earlier this year by the head of Germany’s 16 states but it needs to be ratified by the end of 2019 if it is to be enforced on January 1, 2020. This treaty is set to clear up a lot of things and bring order to Germany’s online gambling industry.