Prior to 2003, payment processor PayPal had a rather liberal approach to funding online gaming accounts on behalf of its customers. The market was small and the risk seemed minimal at that point in time. When the company merged with eBay, the consolidated entity essentially closed the door on online gambling. Now that PayPal is once again a stand alone publicly held entity, the doors are being reopened slowly but surely.
PayPal and Online Gaming Between 2003 and 2006
After spending a few years openly funding online gambling accounts on behalf of US citizens, PayPal made the strategic decision it was time to cease the practice of doing so. The primary reason for this decision was the increase of online gaming regulations in the US. The US government decided it was unrealistic to go after millions of Americans who were gambling online and decided instead to target payment processors with huge penalties for enabling US citizens to break the law. After being acquired by eBay, the company culture turned conservative and no longer found value in treading in the gray areas of the issues at hand.
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In the US, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was passed, giving the Feds legal basis and defined recourse for going after payment processors and the US citizens who were in violation of the law. Where citizens were concerned, some high profile online gamblers were convicted, but it was still unrealistic to go after a man who deposited $100 on an online gaming site in Costa Rica. PayPal continued to deny US