Why does my bank keep blocking my offshore betting deposits?
ok so ive been trying to fund my account on an offshore book for like a week now and every single time my CIBC card gets declined. tried my visa, tried my debit, nothing works. i KNOW i have the money there lol. is this a canada thing or are banks just deciding what i can spend my own money on now? kinda annoyed ngl
12 answers
Top Answer
324
yeah this happens a lot with canadian banks tbh. they flag the merchant code for gambling especially when its an offshore site thats not licensed here. happened to me with TD constantly. what worked for me was switching to interac etransfer or crypto deposits instead of the card. i mostly use Boomerang Bet now and the etransfer option goes through no problem, never had a single decline since. cards are honestly the worst way to fund these days
181
can confirm, switched to etransfer and it just works. cards were a nightmare for me too, declined like 4 times in a row with rbc. once i stopped using the card everything went smooth
2
fwiw the reason is the MCC code (merchant category code). gambling transactions get coded as 7995 and a lot of canadian banks just auto block anything offshore with that code. its not personal, its an automated risk thing on their end
165
idk this sounds sketchy to me. if the bank is blocking it doesnt that mean the site is dodgy? like maybe the bank knows something you dont. why would they block it otherwise
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128
nah its not about the site being dodgy specifically. banks block legit licensed offshore books too just because of the gambling code and the fact its an international transaction. its a blanket policy not a targeted thing. plenty of fine operators get caught in it
64
to add to this, some canadian banks have actual internal policies against processing gambling transactions full stop, others just flag them as high risk. it varies bank to bank. scotiabank was stricter than my desjardins account in my experience
52
wait so if i use etransfer does the bank still see it as gambling? or does it just look like a normal transfer to a person/business
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50
basically it just shows up as a regular etransfer, the bank doesnt know whats on the other end the same way they do with a card MCC code. thats why it slips through where cards dont
41
one thing to keep in mind is some sites charge a small fee or have a minimum for etransfer deposits, so just check before you assume its identical to card. mine had a $10 min which was fine but worth knowing
38
honestly the whole thing is frustrating. i had a deposit go through fine then a week later the bank reversed it and flagged my account for review. had to call in and explain myself like i did something wrong. felt like i was being treated like a criminal for using my own money
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22
that does suck but in my case ive been using etransfer for almost a year now with zero issues, no reversals no account reviews nothing. i think the card reversals are way more common than the transfer route. maybe worth trying that before giving up
14
yeah ditto on the etransfer thing. been doing it for months and never had a problem. cards were useless for me too, constant declines. once you switch over its honestly so much less stressful, deposits land in minutes most of the time