New Jersey and its still-young online gambling industry hope a newly released credit card code for online transactions will get more credit card issuers to approve online gambling transactions.
But code or no code, it’s still up to banks and credit card companies to decide on the transactions.
Since going live with online gambling in 2013, as many as half of all credit card transactions have been declined. Many banks and credit card issuers fear running afoul of federal law by authorizing online gambling transactions.
The four-digit number 7995 has been the Merchant Category Code that credit card associations have used for years to identify transactions coming from online casinos.
The state hopes a new code—7801—for transactions made at government-licensed online casinos will lead to more approvals.
While most analysts said the new code may help in some cases, the small size of the overall online market—about $123 million in New Jersey in 2014—will mean most banks and card issuers won’t make sweeping changes to their online gambling policies.
