Archived Insights

The payments industry is divided on what the future holds now that the UK government has made clear its intentions to shut down the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR).

The Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) has issued a notice mandating the adoption of a National Quick Response (QR) Code Standard for payment transactions.

Reintroduced legislation to impose sweeping federal restrictions on U.S. sports betting has little chance of being approved in Congress but may continue to influence state lawmakers, with loyalty programs now seemingly in the crosshairs of industry critics.

The Philippines’ primary gambling regulator has attributed a surge in interest in online gambling licensing and foreign-facing B2B service provision to exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) money laundering grey list.

The head of Germany’s Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States has called for more action against illegal operators and extra powers to tackle illegal gambling.

The Bank of Lithuania has identified significant weaknesses in applications for crypto-asset service provider licences, with most submissions failing to meet key requirements.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is exploring whether to remove or increase the UK’s £100 contactless payment limit, as part of its response to the government’s push for economic growth.

The Malta Financial Services Authority has identified major shortcomings in how crypto-asset service providers, e-money institutions and payment service providers address financial terrorism and targeted financial sanctions risks.

Some 2 percent of the Japanese population, or just under 2m people, are currently engaged in online gambling, with a majority of them claiming to have a gambling addiction, a survey commissioned by the National Police Agency has shown.

Underdog Fantasy will pay a $17.5m fine to the state of New York and at least temporarily cease offering fantasy games in the state as part of a settlement announced Friday with the New York State Gaming Commission.

Connecticut regulators have suspended the online gaming supplier license of High 5 Games due to its sweepstakes casino offering, and said that the company will face criminal charges.

Canadian Gaming Association president Paul Burns said Thursday that Alberta has begun to make progress in its efforts to launch an Ontario-style online gaming market, although a government spokesman says no timeline is in place yet.

An alleged illegal bookmaker taking bets via WhatsApp has been arrested in the UK and Nevada proposes tougher punishments for illegal gambling.

In recent weeks, the European Commission has published two significant regulations under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) which will contribute towards firms’ compliance efforts, standardising reporting of major ICT-related incidents and cyber threats. The first, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/301, sets out technical standards for the content and timing of mandatory incident reports and voluntary cyber threat notifications. It sets out classification criteria, reporting deadlines and required details, such as impact assessments, remediation efforts and communication with authorities. Meanwhile, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/302 provides standardised templates, forms and procedures for reporting. This regulation mandates uniform reporting formats, secure submission channels and requirements for complete and updated information. Both regulations, published in the Official Journal of the EU, took effect on March 11, 2025, 20 days after entering the statute book.

Although US lawmakers appear to be aligned on the need for federal stablecoin legislation, they are no closer to an agreement on which bill should prevail and what provisions it should include.

A global outage at Mastercard has highlighted the risk of over-reliance on international card schemes — something the European Central Bank has warned of in its push for homegrown alternatives.

Spain’s data protection authority, the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), has fined Iberia Cards €20,000 for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

A Republican lawmaker has reintroduced a bill that aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) without Congressional authorisation.

Canadian company Axes Network Solutions has filed a lawsuit against Polish national lottery operator Totalizator Sportowy, seeking close to PLN21.7m (€5.2m) in compensation.

Isle of Man police have arrested two suspects in the island’s latest raid on online gambling companies as part of an ongoing probe into global money laundering.

The co-sponsor of a bill that would impose a maximum bet limit in Connecticut has said that was not its intent and that the measure will seek to make operators explain why and how consumers are being limited.