In Azerbaijan, there have long been demands to prevent online betting and gambling.
Modern.az reports that this was stated by Taleh Kazimov, Chairman of the Board of the Central Bank, at a press conference dedicated to the announcement of the decision on the parameters of the interest rate corridor.
He noted that currently it is possible to make payments to some international online platforms with Azerbaijani bank cards:
“Today you can make payments to any official online betting or gambling platform with an Azerbaijani card. But the issue with unofficial platforms is a bit different, and banks mainly try to determine this within the framework of internal rules.”
T. Kazimov stated that international online casino and betting platforms have special payment codes, and transactions can be identified through these codes:
“In fact, online casino and betting games have their own international codes. Transactions under these codes are restricted in Azerbaijan. That is, it is not possible to make direct payments with that code.”
The Chairman of the CBA emphasized that in some cases, betting and casino platforms use codes from other fields of activity:
“In some systems, betting and casino operations are carried out, for example, under pharmacy or other service codes. Formally, the operation appears as another field, but behind it lies casino activity. The bank sees the operation, but only tries to analyze it based on the amount and purpose of the payment. This requires a certain amount of time.”
According to him, the Central Bank requires banks to strengthen internal control mechanisms in this direction:
“We require banks to analyze customer behavior. To determine whether the transaction is related to betting or is a regular payment. But this is a quite complex process.”
T. Kazimov added that excessive tightening of control could create additional inconveniences for citizens using banking services:
“We can make this process stricter. But an overly strict approach could create a situation where citizens are dissatisfied with banking services. People might think that unjustified blockages are being made, and additional checks are being carried out. Therefore, a balance must be maintained here.”
