Turkey’s gambling crackdown targets mobile money transfers

Turkey’s crackdown against unauthorized online gambling ratcheted up another notch after the national banking regulator announced new curbs on mobile money transfers.

Late last month, Turkish media reported that the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) was prepping new restrictions on money transfers and ATM transactions in order to combat unauthorized online gambling activity, which studies have shown accounts for over 10% of all online commerce in the country.

On Thursday, Turkish media outlet Hurriyet offered specifics on the BDDK’s plans, including a new daily maximum of TRY 500 (US $128) on transfer orders to mobile phone numbers.

The BDDK is also restricting Turkey’s mobile users to two financial transactions per day, while requiring senders to list their ID numbers and putting a 24-hour window in which passwords sent to transfer recipients will remain valid.