A company which routes credit-card payments to New Jersey’s online gambling sites says it is seeing credit-card companies approve transactions between 42 and 46 percent of the time.
Officials for CAMS LLC disclosed the figures to the Associated Press. The company receives online payments from the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa—which leads New Jersey’s online sites in revenue—as well as from the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, and routes them to financial institutions.
Matt Katz, the company’s CEO told the wire service that the low acceptance rate “is the single biggest thing that’s holding it back” in New Jersey.
This year, the state’s online sites have brought in $31.6 million. That figure is well below even the most conservative estimates for the industry before online gambling began in November, though the figures have been rising steadily.
The AP report quoted several gamblers as saying they have not been able to use their credit cards at the state’s online sites.
Though a 2011 U.S. Department of Justice ruling cleared the way for states to offer online gambling within their borders, many credit card issuers still refuse to process online gambling payments.
“New Jersey patrons continue to experience difficulties in use of their personal credit and debit card accounts in funding individual Internet gaming accounts,” Deputy Attorney General Mary Jo Flaherty with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, told the AP.
MasterCard has approved 73 percent of attempted transactions in New Jersey since internet gambling began in November, while Visa has approved only 44 percent. American Express and Discover do not approve any such charges, she said.
Flaherty said the gambling enforcement division “continues to work directly with financial institutions, banks and credit card companies and relevant regulators and authorities with respect to the legality of online gaming where authorized as in New Jersey, as well as regarding the appropriateness of payment processing for legalized online gaming.”
In December, 42 percent of players with the Borgata and the two Trump casinos were able to fund accounts using a credit card. That figure rose to 44 percent in January and 46 percent in February before declining to 44 percent in March, according to the report.
Several casinos have been moving to alternative payment methods, including automated clearing house transfers, and electronic payment services like Neteller and Skrill, to make up the difference.
