Hello,
Sometimes when you deposit in the casino the transaction comes through on your card as an overseas transaction or as a cash advance, and some card issuers charge for these kind of transactions.
Without checking into specifics i cannot say exactly what has happened in each case, but i can say that these charges are definately not being collected by us.
Kind Regards
Tom
Most here realise this, but the unpredictable nature of these charges makes it impossible for players to operate their cards properly, and more importantly, "under the radar". The issuers are going to see players continually trying to use cards beyond their prepaid limit because one of these random extra charges has buggered up their calculations. Some may even keep pestering the issuer for more information on why they are being hit with such charges. This will produce what the casinos don't want, a more thorough investigation of what is going on with these customers who use their cards for transactions outside of the US. This could result in even more issuers blocking their products for international use, a trend that US customers have been seeing recently.
Some report having international use blocked by default, and having to make a case, and sign a disclaimer, before the block is lifted. In many cases, they have to sign to say that they will not attempt to use the card for illegal transactions, such as casino deposits. This can mean that if they then do so, they can be prosecuted because they have signed a legal agreement not to.
Some of these descriptors seem even worse than offshore gambling sites in terms of what Homeland Security might see as high risk transactions. Sending money to a dodgy country, such as 99c to the odd animal hospital, may look far more like funding terrorism than a gambling transaction. This is bound to get more departments of the FBI and Homeland Security involved than would be if it was merely a case of tracking down UIGEA offences. In turn, this will speed up the process of finding and shutting down the processors.
If things are getting this bad, an exit from the US market should be considered by both players and casinos.
Better communication would help, as if players were kept in the loop as to what to expect, they are not going to ask questions of their card issuer when something odd happens. They can also budget better if they know what amount IN TOTAL will be called for from their card for each deposit, even if the charge is split as seems to be in some cases.
It already seems that Netspend are "on to it", and are actively looking for such odd activity as they know it is most likely due to gambling purchases going through front companies, and getting miscoded in the process.