Credit Card Processing Issues – Present and Future
2009
If you have ever attempted to place bets at an online casino with a credit card, chances are that you have experienced some difficulties getting payment authorization. Most of the time, the problem lies not with your own MasterCard or Visa, but with a change in the credit card companies approval policies which results in the denied transaction.
Sometimes, a player will have to try four or more different credit cards until they find one that authorizes the payment.
Why is this happening you ask? The answer is that major credit card companies like MasterCard and Visa have chosen not to allow online casino transactions any more. Online casinos (the merchant) are identified through a code provided by the credit card companies to the merchant banks. “7995″ is the code number and it is the possibly the most reviled number throughout the online casino industry. Since last year, this number has caused a decline in online gaming revenue by approximately 30%.
The code is an identifiable marker of the nature of a company’s business based on the traditional Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.
The merchant online casino‘s processor will be coded 7995 by the bank that issuing bank (i.e. HSBC). Thereafter, the 7995 code reveals itself every time a player attempts to use an HSBC credit card at that online casino and the transaction is automatically rejected. Once denied with the first card, a player will try a different credit card from an alternative bank. A player will continue this attempt with subsequent credit cards until (A) the transaction is approved by one of the cards, or (B) the player has no more credit cards left.
