No false coding on our watch, says Pokerstars

02/08/2010

The clampdown by Mastercard and Visa - allegedly on grounds that some online gambling operators are falsely coding transactions as non-gambling activities - last week has received a fast response from Pokerstars, the world's largest online poker site.

In a statement from the poker company this week, it has clarified its position regarding credit card payments from US-based customers, making clear that it does not re-code ‘7995’ online gambling transactions - and abhors the practice, using other legitimate payment channels availble to its US customers.

“PokerStars does not, nor ever has engaged in the practices of mis-coded credit card transactions," the Pokerstars statement emphasises. "We have therefore been unaffected by any crackdown by Visa or MasterCard to close down such mis-coded processing accounts.

“We allow the issuing bank to decide whether the transaction should be approved or declined according to the correct coding of that transaction as 7995.

"The only way that PokerStars is affected by credit card declines is when issuing banks in the United States (or indeed any other country) decide that they will decline 7995 coded transactions. In such instances it is company policy to provide the player with an alternative payment method.”

Meanwhile US player reaction continued to be critical of the moves by Visa and Mastercard, especially in light of current moves to leglse online gambing in the United States, and the postponement to mid-year of the implementation of the UIGEA regulations halting online transactions with online gambling companies.