Bulgaria Drafts EU-First Cap on Gambling Payment Fees
Bulgaria’s government has drafted a new rule that would cap, at just 1.5%, the net fees that banks and e-money providers are allowed to keep when they process gambling-related payments. Rather than regulating casino and betting operators directly, the proposal targets the payment companies that sit between players and gambling sites – an approach regulators say has not really been tried elsewhere in the European Union.
Key facts
- Bulgaria’s draft rule would limit payment facilitators, including banks and e-money institutions, to a 1.5% net fee on gambling transactions.
- The measure targets the payments layer of the gambling industry rather than casino or sportsbook operators themselves.
- It is being described as a novel fiscal tool, with commentators suggesting it could be the first rule of its kind in the EU aimed specifically at gambling payment processing.
- The proposal is still in draft form and would need to pass through further review before becoming binding law.
- It follows separate discussions in Bulgaria around tightening rules on gambling advertising, suggesting a broader push to rein in the sector from multiple angles.
The details
Most gambling regulation focuses on the operator: who gets a licence, what taxes they pay, what player protection tools they must offer. Bulgaria’s draft rule instead looks at the intermediaries that move money between a player’s bank account or e-wallet and a gambling site’s account. Every deposit or withdrawal typically generates a fee for the payment provider handling it, and those fees can vary depending on the payment method, the bank, or the e-money firm involved.
By capping the net fee that facilitators can retain at 1.5%, Bulgarian authorities appear to be aiming at the cost structure surrounding gambling transactions rather than the gambling activity itself. Including e-money institutions alongside traditional banks is notable, since a large share of online casino deposits and withdrawals now run through digital wallets and prepaid card providers rather than conventional bank transfers.
This kind of payments-focused intervention echoes a wider European trend of regulators looking at the financial rails around gambling as a lever, rather than only licensing rules. Other markets have taken different routes to the same broad goal of controlling gambling-related money flows, such as national payment networks blocking transactions tied to unlicensed operators. Bulgaria’s approach is distinct in that it is not about blocking payments to illegal sites, but about capping what regulated intermediaries can earn from facilitating legal ones.
Because the rule is still a draft, key details – such as which transactions count, how compliance will be monitored, and when it might take effect – have not yet been finalised. It is also unclear whether the cap would apply only to Bulgaria-licensed operators or more broadly to any gambling transaction processed through Bulgarian payment institutions.
What this means for players
For players using sites licensed in Bulgaria, a lower fee ceiling on payment processing could, in theory, translate into slightly cheaper or more consistent transaction costs, though nothing in the draft guarantees savings will be passed on. It is also possible that some banks or e-money firms decide gambling transactions become less profitable under the cap, which could affect which payment methods remain available to Bulgarian players over time.
For players outside Bulgaria, this specific rule has no direct effect, but it is a useful reminder that player protections and payment rules differ significantly from one jurisdiction to another. Whether a site is licensed by a national regulator, Malta, Curacao, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Kahnawake, or Anjouan, the rules governing money handling, fees, and safeguards can vary widely, so it is worth checking which authority actually oversees a site before relying on it, and treating financial terms and conditions as carefully as any other part of the sign-up process.