iGaming News all over the world 02.08.2010

02.08.2010, PayPal Financial Services Comes Back To Online Betting / China Starts It's Internet Gaming Restrictions Program / Online Poker Game of Choice for European Governments / Hopes are High For PartyGaming in USA Market

PayPal Financial Services Comes Back To Online Betting
The growth of online gambling in the world and the laws that restrict banks from accepting transactions from internet gambling activities has created a new and necessary need for alternative payment processing services. Mastercard and Visa services have been discontinued in some jurisdictions and they were the trusted and well respected payment processors for many online gambling customers. PayPal took a big hit and pulled away from the market in the USA when the government there decided to ban online gambling payment processors and prosecute those who continued to transfer and transact gambling funds. PayPal is slowly but surely re-entering the gambling world by teaming up Ladbrokes and Virgin Casino to offer payment services to sports bettors and casino attendees once again in the U.K. The PayPal service allows anyone to pay in in many ways including credit cards, bank accounts, buyer credit or account balances, without sharing financial information. Founded in 1998, PayPal has become a global leader in online payment solutions with more than 153 million accounts worldwide. It is available in 190 markets and 24 currencies enabling global ecommerce by making payments possible across different locations, currencies, and languages.

PayPal has received more than 20 awards for excellence from the internet industry and the business community -most recently the 2006 Webby Award for Best Financial Services Site and the 2006 Webby People's Voice Award for Best Financial Services Site. The variable habits of gamblers around the globe has allowed Paypal to customize payment solutions for each demographic and region. Financial privacy is a paramount goal for the company and it's customers. PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002 and is headquartered in San Jose, California USA.

PayPal last year reported annual revenue of over $2.1 billion making it one of the most used payment processing firms in the world today. It has been suggested that the recently merged Bwin PartyGaming online gambling company will also be using the PayPal service.

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China Starts It's Internet Gaming Restrictions Program
August first 2010 is another historical day in the evolution of the ever changing world wide web. The internet has grown in vast proportions over the last two decades or so and there is nothing that really compares with it's spreading of various influences good and bad all over the planet. This day is the beginning of China's newest attempt to regulate what it's citizens can do and see on the internet. Claiming that the new laws introduced August first are necessary to protect their children of the country from 'unwholesome content and Internet addiction'.

The news in China and abroad says that the law is specific in that it states that online games targeting minors are to be free of content that can lead to the imitation of behaviour that violates social morals and the law.

Real names are to registered online for the players with age verification and time limitations on play. Online games that are morally suspect are to be banned by the new laws, including of course casinos games and card games are unacceptable past times by government standards. This kind of government crack down can only mean that the authorities are threatened and maybe the 420 million people that are online in China are enjoying themselves too much.

The market value of the online gambling industry in China was estimated to be almost $3.8 billion in 2009 that's a huge chunk of change going around without the tax people in China getting a piece of the action. The measures were drafted by the Ministry of Culture back in June and also requires a minimum registered capital of 10 million yuan $1.48 million for online gaming companies to receive a license. The recent banning of the use of virtual currencies has caused a big slow down in money wagered by Chinese youth.

Zhao Xufeng, a gaming analyst in Shanghai with IT consulting firm iResearch, said about the ID requirement, that he did not think the real-name policy would keep children off the Web even though teenagers do not usually get their ID cards until after age 16.These restrictions are only going to last so long, just until the hackers figure a way around it.

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Online Poker Game of Choice for European Governments
The internet and all of it's commerce potential is the way of future economies for many countries that see the graffiti is on the wall. We are living in a computer dominated environment for the most part in urban centers around the planet and are interconnected to the web with so many applications the imagination is endlessly finding new ways of getting the information or the game you need or want. That technology has gone completely mobile.

Laptops are being superseded by the latest phones that are being made smaller and more powerful all the time. How governments of various nations usually small environmentally sensitive nations have chosen online gambling as a safe and reliable industry speaks volumes about globalization and technology coming together to create an online economy that is entertainment based.

European Union countries continue to look for adequate solutions to flagging consumer economy and is turning the valve to open for the revenue stream available through the world of online poker. First initiated by the English government back in 2005, and copied by several other E.U. nations shortly there after. Obvious results from move to legalize online betting has proven that Europe has become the biggest online gambling market in the world, accounting for an estimated $12.5 billion of the industry’s $29.3 billion total revenue this year.

According to the Director of pubic affairs for the European division at Betfair, Mr. Tim "The gambling business is one of Europe’s real success stories online. This is a business in which Europe leads the world."

The recent French entry into the online gambling jurisdiction list has made other countries such as Switzerland, Germany, and Spain have second thoughts on delaying their resolves to reduce their deficits. The governments of Europe are making the best of the new electronic economy and who's to blame them for that?

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Hopes are High For PartyGaming in USA Market
Following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the United States, back in October 2006, most European online gambling businesses, including the poker sites, have shied away from the U.S. market. Things may soon change. The first sign that there is change in the air came Wednesday when an appeal to UIGEA took place with a markup in a House subcommittee. The next hopefull step is the House and Senate where further amendments are likely. In the past, European online gambling firms made money but after pulling out their business due to the UIGEA, together they lost billions of dolars. This includes PartyGaming, the biggest online poker room at the time. Powerless to do anything, it watched more than 70 percent of its customer base evaporated, almost overnight. PartyGaming has been in talks with the U.S. Government over future possibilities. Once legislation allows for it they hope for entrance back into the US market.

As PartyGaming gets ready to hit the jackpot in the US again they announced a merger with Austria’s Bwin. This would make it one of the largest Internet gambling companies in the world. Bwin has never operated in the United States but likes the odds. The reaction to both the merger and the progress of the US bill has online gambling firms throughout Europe reacting positively. Shares in PartyGaming rose 12 to 269p, 888 was up 1¼ to 47¾p, Playtech moved 31½ higher to 441¼p and Sportingbet climbed ¾ to 57p. An analyst at Collins Stewart, Simon Davies, said, "It is probably the most positive step towards the reopening of the US online gaming market since 2006."

Industry analysts are hopeful the legislation will pass on the basis that online gaming can help stimulate the economy. A recent study forecasts internet gambling could generate $42bn in tax receipts over the next 10 years

Not everyone is hopeful about the bill becoming law. A recent press release sparked comments from some industry observers, that the bill needs revisions. If Amendment 15 does not allow PartyPoker to get a license to operate in the US, PartyPoker investors will not be happy.

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