Russian residents will not be able to fund online casino accounts with Sberbank cards

Players residing in Russia will not be able to make monetary transactions in online casinos via Sberbank cards.

Reminder: Effective May 27, 2018. certain provisions of Federal Law No. 358-FZ dated November 27, 2017 "On Amending the Federal Law 'On Lotteries' and the Federal Law 'On State Regulation of Organization and Conduct of Gambling Activities and on Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation'" came into force, which prohibits banks and payment systems from transferring funds between individuals and illegal gambling sites.

Sberbank has banned payments to foreign companies involved in the organization and conduct of illegal gambling. This means that Russian residents playing at foreign online casinos or betting on sports at unlicensed bookmakers will not be able to use their Sberbank card to deposit or withdraw funds.

However, Sberbank has not yet commented on this information, thus neither confirming nor denying it.

Is there a way out? Many companies are already looking for ways to get around this ban. For example, casino platforms BGaming added new payment method Purple Pay Voucherwhere you make a deposit with your card as before, only through this payment method.