Payment Processing for Gibraltar-Licensed Operators
Gibraltar licenses some of the largest gambling operators in the world, and acquirers treat it accordingly. Since 1 April 2026 the jurisdiction runs under a new Gambling Act, and its AML rules are stricter than most: every customer who deposits goes through enhanced due diligence. For your payment setup, that means strong controls at the point of deposit and clear evidence of where player money comes from.
Last reviewed October 2026
The new Gambling Act 2025
The Gambling Act 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026 and repealed the 2005 Act, except for the sections on approved persons, which start later. It provides for B2C operator licences, B2B operator licences and gambling operator support services licences. Licences are granted by the Licensing Authority, and the Gambling Commissioner supervises licensees.
Two parts of the Act matter directly for payments. Holding or managing customer funds in connection with remote gambling is itself a licensable activity unless it is done by a licensed credit institution, and an operator must show a sufficient substantive presence in Gibraltar. Expect an acquirer to ask how your licence has been carried over to the new Act and who in Gibraltar runs the business.
Payment rules for Gibraltar operators
- Customers must be able to start a withdrawal at any time, and payouts are due within five working days of the end of any verification.
- Customers may not be given credit for gambling, apart from promotions or bonuses.
- Liabilities for customer balances, pending withdrawals and guaranteed prizes must be separately identifiable at any time and covered by sufficient liquid assets.
- Under the Act, money's worth includes crypto currencies of any kind.
AML: due diligence on every depositing customer
Gibraltar's anti-money laundering code for remote gambling, under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2015, requires all remote gambling customers who make a deposit to go through enhanced due diligence, applied on a risk-based approach and as soon as practicable. Unlike the UK or the Isle of Man, there is no deposit threshold before this applies.
Operators must establish source of funds or source of wealth and check that a customer's losses are consistent with it. One of the listed measures is making sure payments to and from the customer go through a bank account in the customer's own name. Suspicious activity is reported to the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unit, and a money laundering reporting officer at senior management level is required.
Gibraltar's standing with banks
Gibraltar was removed from the FATF list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring on 23 February 2024, after being added in 2022, and was later removed from the EU list of high-risk third countries in 2025. Both make banking and acquiring relationships easier than during the grey-list period, when many institutions applied extra checks to Gibraltar entities.
Markets you can serve
A Gibraltar licence does not cover customers in Great Britain: operators serving them need a UK Gambling Commission licence as well. Acquirers agree the permitted countries with you, so list every market you take players from and the licence covering each one.
What acquirers check before boarding a Gibraltar operator
- Your licence under the Gambling Act 2025, and the entity holding it.
- Substance in Gibraltar: management, staff and office.
- How customer funds are held and how liabilities are covered.
- Your enhanced due diligence process at first deposit, including source of funds checks.
- Payout times against the five-working-day standard.
- Permitted markets and any other licences you hold, such as a UKGC licence.
- Processing history with approval, refund and chargeback rates.
How Ecompayer works with Gibraltar operators
Ecompayer is not a payment provider. Gibraltar-licensed operators use one online application to get matched with payment providers that board gambling businesses.
- Add your licence, company, markets, volumes and payment methods in one go.
- We match your profile with a provider that accepts Gibraltar licensees.
- Your account is prepared with the provider, and you move on to going live.
Sources
- Gambling Act 2025 (Gibraltar) and notice of commencement, LN.2026/064 (1 April 2026).
- Gibraltar Remote Technical and Operating Standards (2012), section 2.5.
- Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner, AML/CFT code for remote gambling (2021 update).
- FATF, jurisdictions under increased monitoring, February 2024.
- Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 (UK), explanatory notes.
Check your own situation
Whether a provider boards you depends on your licence, markets, volume and history. Answer four questions to see which payment routes may fit your business.
Four questions about your business
Industry, company country, customer markets and estimated monthly volume, that is all we need to begin.
Related licences
UK Gambling Commission (UKGC)
A UK Gambling Commission licence is one of the strongest a gambling operator can show an acquirer, but it also comes with the most detailed payment rules of any major market. Credit cards are banned, deposits may only run through regulated payment services, and financial vulnerability checks are triggered by net deposits. Your payment setup has to be built around those rules from day one.
Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)
For a gaming operator, the licence is the first thing an acquirer looks at, and an MGA licence is one of the most widely recognised: what then decides the outcome is which markets you actually accept players from, because permitted geography, not the licence alone, drives gaming underwriting.
Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC)
An Isle of Man licence tells an acquirer that your payments are already supervised closely: the Gambling Supervision Commission approves every payment method you use before it goes live, and player money must be protected in full. That makes underwriting more predictable, provided your file shows the same controls the regulator has already approved.
Related merchant problems
Provider asked for more documents
A document request usually means underwriting is still open rather than closing: something in the file cannot be verified yet. The fastest applications are the ones where every requested item arrives complete and consistent the first time.
Chargeback rate too high
A rising chargeback rate is the most common reason processing is restricted or withdrawn, and because schemes measure it monthly against your transaction count, it can cross a threshold faster than most merchants expect.
Related guides
High-risk payment processing
High risk is a classification applied by acquirers and card schemes, not a judgement about your business. It means your industry, business model or dispute profile creates more potential refund and chargeback liability, so fewer providers will underwrite you and terms include tighter controls.
Chargeback ratio
Chargeback ratio is the number of chargebacks in a month divided by the transactions or volume in that period, expressed as a percentage. It is the metric acquirers watch most closely, because card schemes place merchants above their thresholds into monitoring programmes with fees and remediation requirements.
Check which payment routes may fit your business
Answer a short set of questions about your business and we will check your profile against the requirements providers have given us. No approval is decided here.
Check my payment optionsNothing is shared with a provider until you submit your onboarding pack. Approval is always the provider's decision.
