PayPal returning to US online gambling

There’s been no official announcement from PayPal, but according to media reports the world’s best known online payment processing company is set to return to online casino gambling in the United States.

Just over a decade or so ago when Elon Musk was only dreaming of lithium battery powered cars, his start-up PayPal was one of the most common deposits methods across the net-gambling industry. Back then there weren’t as many casino deposit options as there are now but the few that did exist, including VISA, Mastercard and PayPal, worked pretty much wherever you were playing at and wherever you were playing from…the US included.

Following their acquisition by eBay and the passing of UIGEA in 2006, PayPal decided to do the responsible corporate citizen thing and dropped all association with online gambling worldwide. The owners of NeTeller, MoneyBookers and the like must have been rubbing their hands together in sheer delight as they all piled in to fill the void.

Since then, PayPal have taken a very softly softly approach to re-entering the industry. They have been very selective with the casinos they work with and the countries they will work in, and have remained well out of the United States. Until now so it seems.

The decision to re-enter the US market is prompted by new state based laws legalizing online casinos. They plan to begin processing payments for licensed online casinos in the regulated states of Nevada, New Jersey  and Delaware in the coming months.

They probably want to get things rolling as soon as possible in New Jersey while there’s still an industry to service.