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CNBC's Darren Rovell has been on the case of the recent rash of checks bouncing from a number of well established online gambling establishments. Rovell reports that a company called Zip Payments is the apparent culprit.
Thousands of online gamers over the last several days have been lighting up message boards with news that checks from prominent online betting sites had bounced. It was unclear what if any redresses would be provided.
"There has been much talk about a company called Zip Payments, which gamblers allege is a top culprit in the check bouncing," Rovell reports. "My call placed to Zip Payments was not immediately returned--it went straight to a message machine."
Larger online gambling establishments - some of which handle more than 10 times the volume of customers as the average betting business - have had a tough time finding check payment systems that can handle processing their vast number of requests since a handful of reliable payments solutions left the US market - specifically Neteller, MyCitadel and Firepay. Poker websites have been hit especially hard.
"I just got notice from my bank that 2 checks I deposited last week have been returned NSF. They were both from Zip Payments from withdrawals I had made at 2 different ******* group casinos," stated one customer on the CasinoMeister.com board. Gambling911.com follows industry protocol not to name specific affected gambling sites unless there is reason to believe they are deliberately withholding funds from customers. Since passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, these businesses have been targeted directly and payment solutions shut off as a result.
A number of Internet gambling sites have now begun posting on their websites and alerting new depositors that payments may take up to 40 days by check, however, most are working around the clock in an effort to institute new payment solutions.
Payouts related to online gambling cannot be made back directly to one's credit card as a result of strict coding enforced by the Patriot Act. Operators, banks and even players could be flagged for "fraud" as a result of such practices.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com
Originally published July 25, 2008 10:51 am EST
