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Bank Trouble For Pokerstars
"Insufficient funds" is a highly
unlikely reason for rubber checks
The most popular - and populous - online poker room around, Poker
Stars.com has been the subject of worried forum postings following
a series of bounced checks to players, and this week the issue was
addressed by the online poker information portal Poker-King.com.
In a report that does not clarify whether the players concerned
are US resident or otherwise, but are assumed to be the former the
site published the results of its investigation thus:
"After some investigating, we have ascertained that this is
a bank-specific issue. Citizen's Bank has been flagging and returning
checks that they deem to be tied to online gambling. The reason
that they are giving is that there were "insufficient funds",
even though this is not the case.
"Citizens Bank is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland,
which has publicly stated that it would be taking a hard-line stance
to online gambling transactions post-UIGEA. If you are a client
of Citizens Bank and have tried to cash an online gambling check,
then you have likely been a victim of the company's new hard-line
stance."
Poker-King correctly points out that Poker Stars is one of the
most financially stable online poker sites around today, so this
is not a question of financial instability, but of banking interference.
Founded in 1828, Citizens Financial Group started as a small community
bank called the High Street Bank in Providence, Rhode Island. Since
then it has grown into a major banking enterprise with $161 billion
in assets, making it the 8th largest commercial bank holding company
in the United States when ranked by deposits. Owned by UK's The
Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, the US operation has branches
in 13 states and offices in more than 40.
The Royal Bank of Scotland is believed to have been subpoenaed
by the US government in connection to its arrangement with publicly
traded online gambling firms operating out of Europe that accepted
business from customers in the States.
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