Sensing that it is inevitable that online gambling will become a reality in the United States sooner rather than later, three former executives from Mastercards have set up a company to serve as a US subsidiary to the UK based payments processor, the UC Group.
The new group, known as Secure Trading, said that its intention was to provide “safe financial transactions and required consumer protections” in the United States as soon as the law permitted online gambling.
The chairman of Secure Trading is Chris Thom who, as Chief Risk Officer of Mastercard for 11 years, learned the payment processing industry inside and out and understands that the gambling world is poised for some major changes once the US updates its laws.
“Momentum for regulating Internet gambling in the U.S. has been building for some time,” said Thom in a statement that he issued with former Mastercard COO, Ted Friedman and head of customer support and sales, TJ Sharkey. “As Congress prepares to take the final step, SecureTrading Inc.’s turnkey system is primed to enable our customers to go live the moment Internet gambling is regulated.”
The new venture was announced several days after online gambling players reported difficulties in paying for their gaming sessions using Mastercard. It was then discovered that the credit card giant had began the process of clamping down on online gambling sites that offer Mastercard as a payment option. It is believed that Visa is considering following suit.
US players, meanwhile, have plenty of other payment methods at their disposal, including e-wallet options and wire transfer, among others.