Brief History of PayPal Gambling
PayPal has had an on and off relationship with the gambling industry since its inception in the late 90s. In the early days, gambling accounted for a significant percentage of the company’s revenue. Things changed after its merger with eBay in 2002. The company reversed course and ceased to accept online gambling transactions on the back of increasing pressure from the US legal system and a $10 million lawsuit the previous year. PayPal’s withdrawal from online gambling created space in the market for other transaction processors to enter and fill the void. E-wallets such as Neteller and Skrill were two such beneficiaries who made a lot of money processing transactions with online casinos, sportsbooks and poker sites. Over the following years, the likes of Neteller and Skrill became synonymous with online gambling. Both subsequently grew considerably in size and wealth to rival PayPal’s dominance.
In response, PayPal restarted processing gambling transactions in 2009 with licensed and legal operators. At first, this was only in the UK, a jurisdiction where it was permitted to processes online gambling payments. Today, you can use Paypal in many online gambling sites in countries where online gambling is legal. Since the removal of gambling restrictions, PayPal continues to strengthen its market position as the worlds leading E-wallet provider.