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The document requires pre-approval for gambling, gaming, sports betting, fantasy sports, lottery, sweepstakes, and skill-game activities, and limits eligibility for such pre-approval to operators and customers located exclusively in jurisdictions where these activities are lawfully permitted.
This analysis describes what PayPal's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
This provision establishes both a pre-approval gate and a jurisdictional eligibility condition for gambling-related payment processing; operators must satisfy both requirements simultaneously, and the jurisdictional restriction applies to customers as well as the operator, creating an ongoing compliance monitoring obligation.
Interpretive note: The document does not specify how operator or customer jurisdictional eligibility is verified or monitored, leaving the operational compliance mechanism undefined.
Under this clause, gambling and gaming operators must obtain PayPal pre-approval and ensure that both they and their customers are located in jurisdictions where the activity is lawfully permitted. The agreement's application of the jurisdictional condition to customers creates an operational monitoring requirement that is not further specified in the document.
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"Activities involving gambling, gaming and/or any other activity with an entry fee and a prize, including, but not limited to property/real estate prizes, casino games, sports betting, horse or greyhound racing, fantasy sports, lottery tickets, other ventures that facilitate gambling, games of skill (whether or not legally defined as gambling) and sweepstakes, if the operator and customers are located exclusively in jurisdictions where such activities are permitted by law.Excerpt from PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy
(1) REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Gambling payment processing engages state gaming regulatory authorities in the United States, including the Nevada Gaming Control Board, New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, and others where online gambling is licensed. At the federal level, the Wire Act and Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) are relevant to payment processing for gambling. EU operators engage national gambling licensing authorities and the relevant provisions of applicable EU member state gambling legislation. (2) GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: High. The customer jurisdictional condition is operationally demanding because it requires operators to verify customer location on an ongoing basis to maintain AUP compliance, a requirement the document does not elaborate on technically or procedurally. (3) JURISDICTION FLAGS: Online gambling is prohibited or heavily restricted in a majority of US states; operators accepting payments from customers in non-permissive jurisdictions would be in breach of this provision even if the operator holds a valid license in a permissive jurisdiction. EU member states have materially different gambling licensing regimes, and the document's jurisdictional condition requires compliance with each applicable local framework. (4) CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Gambling operators using PayPal as a payment method should confirm pre-approval status in writing and establish contractual mechanisms for verifying customer jurisdiction, as the AUP makes customer location a compliance condition. (5) COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Gambling and gaming platforms should implement geolocation and identity verification procedures sufficient to demonstrate that customers are located in permissive jurisdictions at the time of each transaction, and should document this capability as part of the pre-approval application.
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This provision establishes both a pre-approval gate and a jurisdictional eligibility condition for gambling-related payment processing; operators must satisfy both requirements simultaneously, and the jurisdictional restriction applies to customers as well as the operator, creating an ongoing compliance monitoring obligation.
Under this clause, gambling and gaming operators must obtain PayPal pre-approval and ensure that both they and their customers are located in jurisdictions where the activity is lawfully permitted. The agreement's application of the jurisdictional condition to customers creates an operational monitoring requirement that is not further specified in the document.
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