Online gamblers in Germany will soon lose the ability to fund casino accounts through popular online payments system PayPal. The government there has ordered the payment processor to stop facilitating unauthorized online casino activity.
PayPal updated its terms of service in the German gambling market this week with language that prohibits using the service for “offers that are not legal in your respective whereabouts, including some online gambling offers.” The new policy is set to take effect on October 21, 2019.
The German state of Lower Saxony announced back in June that it had issued a warning to a then-unidentified international payment processor to cut its relationship with internationally licensed casino operators that are operating in the German market and serving German customers with local permission to do so. It was widely suspected at the time that the unidentified processor was PayPal.
Online Casino Licenses in Germany
So far, Schleswig-Holstein has been the only state in Germany to issue online casino licenses. Previous licenses expired earlier this year but were reinstated in June with the provision that licensees will not market their online casinos to customers outside the state. The bwin casino brand discontinued it’s PayPal funding option for German customers in December.
All 16 German states plan to start licensing online sports betting on an interim basis by Next January. Qualifying for one of these licenses, however, will require sportsbook operators to cut ties with German-facing online casinos. The states are hoping to reach an agreement on a new federal gambling treaty by the end of June 2021.
New German Gambling Rules
German-facing operators were present in Hesse for an informational session regarding the new proposed gambling rules. Those rules would include banning any non-sports-related products, banning in-play wagering, and what is being called a crippling tax of 5% on betting turnover. They would also impose a spending limit of €1,000 monthly for each customer.
State ministers hinted that they may be willing to make adjustments to the € 1,000 spending limit, but casino operators would still have to face strict new responsible gambling requirements. They would need to make certain that any customers they serve are not listed on a central self-exclusion registry as well as obtain separate licenses to be able to legally advertise their sites within Germany.
On the bright side, the rules would only be enforced during the interim licensing period which will expire in 2021. The hope is that states will be able to come to an agreement on a more liberal final treaty that won’t impact the operators’ ability to make money from the German market so negatively.
German Friendly Casino Banking Methods
PayPal is a great banking method if you don’t mind about fees and many players will be affected by this measure, for sure. The good news is that as a german casino player you will still have plenty of deposit methods to choose from.
For casino deposits only, I still recommend VISA and Mastercard, as well as Paysafecard and Klarna. Remember: these methods only work for deposits.
For casino deposits and also withdrawals, I recommend using Neteller, Skrill or Trustly. Between them, Trustly is the most efficicient casino banking method for European players. If you can choose it, go for it.