Paypal is the leading payment and online transaction site and app since 1998. Though it allows you to transact online, send and receive payments or money, buy things online, but it does prohibit its payment in certain areas such as gambling and betting sites. In Australia and New Zealand Paypal doesn’t allow real money gambling funding or transactions and this it mentions in its policies as well. This is the reason there are very few online casinos or bookies where you can use Paypal as deposit method to make a deposit for betting on games.
Paypal Deposits For Gambling Not Allowed in Australia and New Zealand
Besides Australia, Paypal mentions in one of its policies prohibiting transactions in high-risk countries and also bans gambling transactions where the activity is illegal.
PayPal allows approved gambling merchants to use their service in certain jurisdictions where gambling activities are legal. To be approved by PayPal, merchants must demonstrate to PayPal’s satisfaction that they have the ability to block gambling activities for account holders in their country and any jurisdiction where gambling activities may be illegal.
This means unless the merchant or betting site or casino has been approved by PayPal, account holders may not use PayPal to send or receive payments for any form of gambling activities, including but not limited to payments for wagers, gambling debts, and gambling winnings, whether conducted online, in person, or through any other means of communication. Gambling includes placing, accepting, recording, or registering bets; participating in lotteries; or otherwise carrying on a game of chance for money, property, or other things of value.
Joining any online casino offer the best of pokies games and bonuses to play these games. There is no reason to join an online casino if you can’t deposit the money needed to play. Or choose to play free pokies which doesn’t require any real money deposit. So, this is why it sits high on our priorities. Why don’t online casinos accept PayPal deposits in Australia and New Zealand?
So the burning question we have received and wished to answer for all you punters out there is “Why don’t online casinos accept PayPal deposits?”
Which gambling and games are prohibited by Paypal?
PayPal prohibits the following activities, even where the specific activity is lawful and/or is not legally defined as gambling, unless the transactions are associated with an approved merchant.
1. Games of Chance
Games of chance and games of skill –Includes any activity with an entry fee and a prize, regardless of whether the outcome is determined by chance or skill. A game of chance is a game that doesn’t require any particular ability on your part, but can still allow you to win prizes. This means that the game has no control over the result so it depends on randomness to determine victory. Some popular games of pure chance include casino games like slots, baccarat, roulette and more.
As for the games of skill, rather than chance, the outcome is determined mainly by skills (physical or mental). Some of the well-known games of skill include card games like blackjack, video poker and others.
Casino games, including games of chance and games of skills, are thus banned by PayPal in jurisdictions in which gambling is illegal. This includes both in-person and virtual casinos. However, sometimes you can even find PayPal casinos in Australia that are licensed by authorities, so they can accept PayPal payments.
Casino games -Include (but are not limited to) the following virtual or physical games: baccarat, blackjack, craps, faro, keno, pachinko, pai gow, poker (whether or not it is considered a game of skill in the gambler’s jurisdiction), roulette, sic bo, slot machines, or wheel of fortune.
2. Sports bookies
Sports activity has a huge number of spectators and has attracted so many bettors. Apart from sports betting, horse racing and individual wagering are also not approved by PayPal. The horse racing prohibited by PayPal includes types of races that involve betting between bettors, sweepstakes gambling, pari-mutuel betting, off-track betting or off-course betting (OTB), and bookmaking betting.
Sports books or sports betting –Includes placing bets on actual sporting events against a bookmaker or through a betting exchange.
Horse or greyhound racing –Includes gambling on the following types of races:
- Simple betting (betting between individuals).
- Sweepstakes betting, where large entry fees, or stakes, are pooled and awarded to winners.
- Bookmaking betting, in which speculators offer odds against each horse or dog and accept bets against their predictions.
- Pari-mutuel betting, where betting odds on a given horse or dog are derived from a comparison between the total amount wagered on the animal and the total wagered on all the animals in the race.
- Off-track betting (OTB), where players bet on a race taking place in a location outside of where the bettor is situated.
- Person-to-person betting –Includes individual wagering and wagering through betting exchanges.
3. Lotteries
Lottery tickets –Include the purchase or sale of any opportunity to participate in a raffle, drawing, sweepstake, pool, or any other form of game or contest involving the distribution of prizes or monetary compensation.
4. Gaming Machines
Gaming machines –Include devices meeting the following three criteria:
- Constructed or adapted for playing a game of chance.
- Containing a slot or other aperture for the insertion of money or money’s worth in the form of cash or tokens.
- Offering prizes in money or money’s worth regardless of whether any player is at risk of losing any money or money’s worth.
5. Gambling-related ventures
PayPal deposits may also prohibit transactions for the following ventures related to gambling:
Gambling services, such as handicapping, or providing gambling tips or instructions. PayPal may forbid transactions related to gambling, including any gambling service that offers tips and instructions bundled with gambling and handicapping. It is also the same case with ventures that use intermediaries to hold gambling licenses or ease the process of placing bets — also included are places that arrange or organize forums that facilitate betting between people.
Merchants seeking approval to conduct gambling activities in accordance with this policy will be asked to send contact information and a brief summary of their business to PayPal.
PayPal Acceptable Use Policy
You can and should read the Paypal policy and find which transaction or Paypal deposits it allows through its channel.
You can find Paypal’s Acceptable Use Policy by clicking Legal at the bottom of any PayPal page.
PayPal requires pre-approval to accept payments for certain services for Activities involving gambling, gaming and/or any other activity with an entry fee and a prize, including, but not limited to casino games, sports betting, horse or greyhound racing, fantasy sports, lottery tickets, other ventures that facilitate gambling, games of skill (whether or not legally defined as gambling) and sweepstakes, if the operator and customers are located exclusively in jurisdictions where such activities are permitted by law.
You can also report a violation of their Acceptable Use Policy.
PayPal encourage you to report any violations of the Acceptable Use Policy to PayPal immediately. You need to complete and submit the form if you identify a violation related to:
- A PayPal.Me link
- A Money Pool
- An offensive or graphic image
- Mature adult content
- Child exploitation
- Hate/violence/racial/or other intolerance
- Firearms or weapons
- Gambling
- Multi-level marketing or Ponzi schemes
- Prescription drugs
- Illegal narcotics
- Counterfeit or stolen goods
Finally remember only those online bookies or sites that have taken approval from Paypal allow you to use Paypal as payment option for all gaming and gambling activities. Also there are very very few such sites. Always ask the customer support team via phone or live chat whether they allow Paypal or not and then move on to cashier for deposits to play real money pokies.
