It has been reported this week that the online bingo sector has got a new friend. Mastercard has spent nearly a million dollars lobbying the US Government during the third quarter last year – particularly on the need for reform in US online gambling laws. The payment processing giant is against the UIGEA laws which were passed in recent years placing restrictions on online gambling companies. The laws played significant pressures on such companies to stop their American customers using their credits cards and debit cards to make deposits on online sites such as bingo.

While Mastercard lobbying the government for a change in the law doesn’t necessarily mean they are supporting online bingo but more likely they want to be absolved of any responsibility should their cardholders in the US play online bingo. However, it would be beneficial to them if the US was to back track and allow their citizens to play online bingo as they would make millions of dollars in extra revenues from the fees. Many of the larger players in the online gambling markets like Partygaming are hoping that the laws will be reversed in the near future and are already gearing their operations up for the massive opportunities this would bring around. For bingo players there would be significant benefits as well. The US is one of the largest gambling markets in the world and the inclusion of US players would not only open the doors to a wave of new online bingo sites, providing more competition, but it would also result in larger jackpots and prize funds.