Merchant Accounts for Sports Betting, Poker, and Online Casinos

Three verticals, three different underwriting paths

Sportsbooks are the most regulated. In the US, only state-licensed operators (NJ, PA, MI, CO, etc.) get domestic processing. Offshore-licensed sportsbooks process through Curaçao or Costa Rica acquirers with geo-blocking enforced.

Online poker rooms sit between casino and skill-gaming. Most acquirers treat them as casino-equivalent for risk pricing. License flexibility is similar — MGA, Curaçao, Kahnawake are all acceptable.

Online casinos face the strictest underwriting because chargeback exposure is highest. Player disputes over slot outcomes, RNG fairness, and bonus terms are the most common dispute drivers.

The KYC/AML stack acquirers expect

• Identity verification on first deposit (or before withdrawal at minimum)
• Enhanced due diligence on cumulative deposits over €2,000
• Source-of-funds documentation on high rollers
• Sanctions screening (OFAC, EU, UN lists)
• Transaction monitoring with suspicious-activity reporting
• A designated MLRO (Money Laundering Reporting Officer)

Why Stripe, Square, and PayPal aren't options

All three aggregators run on a single shared MID. One large gambling merchant entering a chargeback storm could put Visa's monitoring tools on the entire aggregator's portfolio. The economics of accepting any gambling merchant — even a perfect one — don't work for them. This is a structural decline, not something a clean file can overcome.

Chargeback management is the entire game

Gambling chargeback ratios run structurally higher than other verticals. The tools that keep you under the 1.5% VAMP enforcement threshold:

• Verifi RDR + Ethoca alerts. Refund inside the alert window and the dispute never posts. Often cuts the raw dispute rate in half.
• Clear billing descriptor with phone number — "ACME-SPORT 248-264" rather than a Curaçao corporate name.
• Bonus terms acceptance with clickwrap timestamp captured.
• 3DS2 on high-risk BINs. Pushes liability to the issuer on authenticated transactions.
• Responsible-gaming controls documented — self-exclusion logs are powerful chargeback rebuttal evidence.

What approval actually costs

Rates: 4.45%–7.95% + $0.30. Rolling reserve: 10–15% for 180 days. Setup: typically $0–$495. Monthly: $25–$95. Chargeback fee: $25–$45. No long-term contracts on our network — month-to-month with 30 days notice.

What to do next

Pre-qualify with your license type, target geographies, expected monthly volume, and last 3 months of processing statements. We'll tell you in writing which acquirer is the right fit and what to expect on rates, reserves, and timeline before you commit to anything.