Online sports betting/ Instruction prohibits cash payments, will be passed through financial agents

2026-06-11 15:12:48, Ekonomi CNA

Online sports betting/ Instruction prohibits cash payments, will be passed

Payments and withdrawals in online sports betting will be made only through financial agents licensed by the Bank of Albania, while organizers are prohibited from accepting or making cash payments. The rule is part of the Ministry of Finance's new instruction on payment procedures and standards in the "Online sports betting" category.

The instruction stipulates that every deposit and withdrawal must be uniquely identifiable and traceable in the systems of the organizer, the financial agent and the Central Online Monitoring System. Player funds will be held in separate accounts with licensed financial agents, who are authorized to provide banking or payment services.

Online betting operators must verify the identity of the player before using the game account and ensure that the payment instrument used for deposit or withdrawal belongs to the same person. In case of a discrepancy between the identity of the player and the holder of the payment instrument, the operator rejects the transaction and, where necessary, returns the amount to the instrument from which it came.

Deposits are only accepted from payment instruments in the player's name, such as a payment account, card or electronic wallet. The organizer's system must automatically reject any deposit when the data transmitted by the financial agent shows an identity mismatch or when a payment instrument issued in the name of a third party is used.

Withdrawals will be made in the same manner as deposits, using the same payment method. Payments of winnings are made only to the player's personal account, to the same payment account where the deposits were made. The instruction prohibits crediting winnings to third party accounts or to payment methods that do not belong to the player.

Organizers must identify unusual or unreasonable transactions in terms of amount, frequency or payment method and handle them in accordance with the legislation on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. Suspicious cases are documented and reported to the Financial Intelligence Agency, while the AMLF is notified when the case is related to the game, payments or system operation.

The guideline also sets rules for promotional funds. Promotions do not constitute real funds of the player and cannot be withdrawn, unless the player meets the conditions set by the organizer. The balance of real funds and that of promotional funds must be kept separate until the conditions for their use are met.

Organizers must maintain a separate account for players’ funds and perform a daily reconciliation between the balance of this account, the players’ balances in the system and the pending transactions. The balance in the account must always be equal to or greater than the total amount of the players’ balances plus the pending transactions. In case of a negative discrepancy, the correction must be made within the next day, no later than 12:00, and the AMLF must be notified within 24 hours.

The Organizer must ensure continuous connection to the Central Online Monitoring System and grant AMLF full access to its systems for real-time monitoring of payments and withdrawals. Any significant changes to the technological systems related to the acceptance, processing or execution of payments require prior approval from AMLF.

Every month, the organizer must submit to the AMLF a report with the amounts played, winnings paid, net deposits and withdrawals, gross game revenue, number of active players, transactions worth 1 million lek or more, as well as the balance of players' funds and the account at the end of the month.

The instruction stipulates that player complaints must be registered and processed no later than 30 calendar days from the submission of the complaint. All data and transaction records must be retained for a period of no less than five years. The instruction enters into force after 15 days./Monitor