Online payment processor Paypal is concerned with the legality and regulations around payments linked to esports tournament sites.
It was online publication Dextero that first reported the story. It has been stated that the main area of concern is whether the payments are associated with gambling when processed through certain tournament sites.
Paypal has requested letters from lawyers in a number of countries and individual US states to ensure that it is meeting the legal requirements in each.
Tournament organisers have been contacted too and UK based Gfinity, which has a venue in Fulham Broadway in association with Vue, has switched payment systems to an alternative payments processor. Gfinity informed Dexerto that this was due to what would have been the huge costs of contacting in excess of 25 countries and every US state to ensure they met each individual standard.
The company also noted that it would have taken a long time to complete this process which led them to make the decision to switch to a Paypal alternative.
Following the recent skins betting uproar and Valve’s cease and desist letters, many are expecting more payment processing companies to further investigate their own place in esports and the legal and regulatory issues within it.
