Has the proposed law that would make internet gambling illegal gone into effect as yet?

What does everyone do about these transactions when they show up on your ACH reports?

I was under the impression it is illegal ...

I give the names of the Gambling Sites to our ACH Dept. They contact Visa and change the MCC Code - which then blocks the transactions. I also have the Branch Manager of the account talk with the customer.

Penal Code Sec. 330.

Every person who deals, plays, or carries on, opens, or causes to be opened, or who conducts, either as owner or employee, whether for hire or not, any game of faro, monte, roulette, lansquenet, rouge et noire, rondo, tan, fan-tan, seven-and-a-half, twenty-one, hokey-pokey, or any banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, or any device, for money, checks, credit, or other representative of value, and every person who plays or bets at or against any of those prohibited games, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable by a fine not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.


(my favorite is where you can get fined for playing the hokey-pokey)

The law went into effect October of 2006, as part of the SAFE Ports Act. I think it was October 16th, but don't hold me to the exact date.

What are the names of the gambling sites that we should be looking for?

netteller
epassporte

Those are the main two that I deal with. Apparently gambling sites have a MCC Code of 6051.

You're ATM/VISA dept should know what to do with that to block them.

I wouldn't look for the gambling sites, per se. I'd look for their payment processors.

neteller and epassporte have already been mentioned. There are also igm-pay, firepay, e-gold, icegoldou, and others. I'll dig out a spreadsheet I have listing some major ones and post it tomorrow.

Here's the list I promised:

CALL-4-SPORT.COM
Central Coin
Citadel
Citadel Commerce.com
Click2Pay
EcoCard
Epassporte.com,
eWalletXpress
Firepay.com
iGmPay
Instadebit.com
Instaplay
Kwikbill.com
Middleton Financial
moneybookers.com
mycitadel
NETteller
Nexum Financial
Pstarpayments,
Sportingbet
sportingbet(alderneyltd)
youbet.com
Lawson Financial
MGLpay
CYPHERgames
Zipcash
CMPcash
Epay systems
jacksgaming.com
navaho network.com
newton finance
Via One Technology/Viaone.com

Thanks!

Does that mean that ACH settlement from the various Indian casinos would also be illegal?

Are these settlements arising from internet gambling?

I would really like to hear Ken Pegasus' insight regarding this matter. What exactly is a bank's responsiblity regarding this situation, either via debit/credit card activity and or ACH?

You can legally gamble at an Indian Casino or in Nevada. (may be other places ... not sure)

However, internet gambling can not determine where the customer is. If they are in California ... they are gambling illegally.

Just wanted to bump this up. I would really like to hear from a seasoned BSAer regarding this situation. Thanks!

I'm very interested also...our foreign activity report has rocketed up due to the activity coded to St.Kitts, Mauritius, and countries where these payment processors are incorporated.

I think that is why the casinos have ATM machines on site. You have to go get the cash to play instead of swiping your debit card right at the blackjack table.

I've seen slot machines that will accept debit cards. Swipe - enter your PIN - and start pulling.

I suppose internet gambling is more risky than we thought.

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_260124614.html

Sorry to keep bumping this up. How are other BSA Officer's handling these transactions? Are you flagging these transactions and returning them? If anyone has any insight about requirements for these type of transactions, I would love to hear it. Thanks!

LOL. Well, I really don't feel so bad now. I guess everyone is having trouble monitoring this type of activity and is unsure of what the requirements are.

I'd like to know too.

Someone, please, HELP!!!!

We added a bunch of the online payment companies to our "hotlist" in our wire system, so we can stop those transactions if they are wires. We stop the EFT transactions by SEC code, but that isn't foolproof. We've seen some companies (like Neteller) just change their code to get past that.

We have seen transactions come in under so many different MCC codes and names it is hard to keep up. We are looking at closing cards for any card holder that continues to use their cards for online gambling after a warning letter is sent out.

We do have one account holder that does a wire to an acct for an online gambling site. Can someone let me know if this is a huge no no or if it is ok to send funds to this acct. If this needs to stop now can I get a ref to a reg please. I will need to have back up to take to mgt.

thanks

Have you all checked ACH activity? I found a huge number using the list provided below....

I recieve a regulatory newsletter from Metavante. The most recent issue had this excerpt:

ENACTED LEGISLATION
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006
Issued October 2006
President Bush signed into law the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006, which included the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 will prohibit persons engaged in the business of betting or wagering from accepting credit, electronic fund transfers, checks, drafts, or other similar instruments, or the proceeds of any other financial transactions in connection with unlawful Internet gambling. (Underline mine)

Applications Under Review: Various.

Comments: Metavante will monitor the progress of the Treasury and Federal Reserve Board in issuing regulations to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. When the proposed regulations are issued, they will be reviewed to determine the impact on affected applications.

I think the key phrase there is unlawful internet gambling. It would seem to me that an ACH to or from a regulated US casino (on Native American lands or corporately run, such as Nevada or Atlantic City) would not be affected by the act. On top of that, those regulated casinos have their own SAR reporting, and likely CTR reporting and they certainly have to report to the IRS. Just my $0.02...

These ACH transactions are internet gambling sites using ACH as their settlement option....