German-facing online casinos are losing their ability to access Visa or Mastercard services as the government puts the squeeze on unauthorized gambling transactions.

On Wednesday, German media outlet NDR reported that Visa had instructed its partner banks not to process online casino deposits or withdrawals using its credit cards. A Visa spokesperson said its retail banking partners were recently contacted “to ensure that only legal, properly licensed transactions are processed.”

In recent weeks, online gambling affiliate forums had been filling up with complaints that this or that online casino was no longer accepting Visa or Mastercard payments for their German customers. The casinos generally stated that it was either suspend these German payments or lose Visa or Mastercard access in all markets.

That said, the situation isn’t entirely uniform. NDR found that, while local betting operator Tipico had removed all mention of Visa from its platform, GVC Holdings’ Bwin brand was telling German customers that they could continue using Visa for sports betting only.

Asia’s leading casino junket operator Suncity Group has assured investors that they won’t be forced to bear losses caused by the pandemic-related implosion of Macau’s gaming market.

In a note issued to shareholders this week, Suncity warned that it had suffered a financial loss during the period spanning February to May due to the “immense impact” of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Asia-Pacific casino industry.

However, Suncity CEO Alvin Chau said the company had built up a “robust fiscal foundation” over the previous fat years, and thus “shareholders will be exempted from the loss” the company has endured since COVID-19 devastated the global gaming industry.

Unlike its sister firm Suncity Group Holdings, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Suncity junket business is privately held. The company told GGRAsia that the ‘shareholders’ mentioned in the notice referred to “passive investors who do not participate in the day-to-day decisions of operating the company.”

London’s Les Ambassadeurs Club casino is squaring off in court against yet another rich Saudi who doesn’t want to pay their gambling marker.

Last Friday, a High Court ruling lifted a freezing order placed on the UK assets of Sheikh Salah Hamdan Al Balawi, who runs technology and communication consortium SAB Ventures. The ruling had been sought by the operators of Les Ambassadeurs after Al Balawi reportedly reneged on a £2m gambling debt.

Al Balawi (pictured) has been a patron of the members-only Mayfair casino for over a quarter-century, making over 150 visits to the property during that time. But the relationship soured after banks refused to honor 17 checks the sheikh left with the casino as collateral against a £2m gambling marker.

The casino claimed that Al Balawi had ghosted them after they attempted to confront him regarding the bounced checks. A subsequent probe revealed that the sheikh had “run up significant gambling debts with other London casinos and has simply walked away from them.” Al Balawi reportedly viewed the Les Ambassadeur marker as an “illegal gambling debt.”

Gambling operator Playtech’s former customer-facing UK operations are under fire for allegedly contributing to a former VIP customer’s suicide.

On Wednesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) released the findings of its investigation into PT Entertainment Services (PTES), a Playtech offshoot that formerly operated the TitanBet and Winner brands in the UK (and still does outside the UK).

The probe was launched in March 2019 after the UKGC received communications from the family of a 25-year-old UK man who committed suicide in April 2017. The man, identified by UK media as Sheffield resident Chris Bruney, held accounts at both TitanBet and Winner.

The UKGC probe identified “serious systemic failings” in PTES’ social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) processes, as well as “more general failings” in the operator’s interaction with its high-spending customers. During 2016-17, PTES sent responsible gambling emails to only 0.26% of its customers, a figure the regulator called “exceptionally low.”