Elijah O'Connor writes that RBS Closes it's Doors to Online Gambling Operators in a NewOnlineCasinsos.org post. The timing is interesting. I didn't know they were involved and now that Barney Frank has promoted a bill to legalize online gambling in the U.S. they're pulling. Royal Bank Of Scotland Says Goodbye To Online Gambling Operators
At a time when online gambling is reaching the height of its popularity, and when more countries than ever are legalizing Internet gambling, one bank is walking away from the action. One of the biggest banks in the world, Royal Bank of Scotland, is closing their doors to the online gaming industry.
The gaming operators have been given the choice to stay with RBS, but the gambling transactions will no longer be processed. That leaves the companies with the decision to use two separate banks or to switch banks altogether.
The Swiss government has been pushing banks to stop processing gambling transactions from Swiss residents. RBS has recently announced the merger of their business with ABN AMRO, a banking group in the Netherlands.
"What is seems like from the outside is that this was a decision that was made to both please the Swiss government, and to satisfy the demands of the merger," said observer Keith Frans.
The Dutch government has been proactive in attempting to stop Internet gambling transactions. Their banks have been asked to comply with their wishes, and being that ABN AMRO is a Dutch bank, that could be the reason for RBS's decision.
"At the end of the day, what the Swiss and Dutch governments are doing is trying to protect their gambling monopolies. I'm not sure these type of actions are going to work under European Union agreements," said Frans.
