Since October 1, the National Bank of Ukraine introduced a limit on card-to-card transfers of 150,000 hryvnias per month in order to limit the activities of illegal online casinos. This initiative was aimed at preventing the outflow of funds to gambling platforms that not only do not pay taxes, but are also not regulated by the rules of responsible gaming. However, the problem of illegal casinos turned out to be more persistent and flexible than expected.
Danger of gambling in Ukraine
The growth of gaming addiction has become especially relevant among the military, who, having received payments for their service, sometimes fall into the grip of excitement. Despite steps taken by President Volodymyr Zelensky, such as the April 2024 decree aimed at combating gaming addiction, the problem remains. The state policy provided for the limitation of financial flows to illegal casinos, which work on the basis of bank transfers and actively use schemes using "drops" - fake bank cards.
How the bypass works
Illegal casinos quickly learned to circumvent the new restrictions by offering customers alternative ways to top up their accounts. Casino sites like stawki.bet or bet2fun offer customers transfers to cards of individuals in state banks or even to accounts with IBAN. Such payments do not fall under the control of established limits, as they look like ordinary transfers between individuals.
Currently, the cards of the Oschadbank bank, formerly headed by the current head of the NBU, Andriy Pishnyi, are actively used in these illegal operations. And although the state is trying to fight this problem, illegal casinos remain available, using loopholes in banking systems.
In search of an effective solution
Despite the declaration and introduction of restrictions, no real benefit has been achieved in the fight against illegal gambling platforms. The proposed measures are rather symbolic, as illegal platforms quickly find new ways to circumvent restrictions by using the services of state-owned banks. This calls into question the effectiveness of the NBU's policy and prompts consideration of other methods of control, possibly technological and legal, for more stringent prosecution of illegal gambling structures.
