Investigate Europe has revealed Visa and Mastercard both continue to process payments for illegal gambling websites, despite first pledging to halt the transactions more than ten years ago.

The card companies entered into a voluntary arrangement with the Gambling Commission in 2014, however, the investigation found both still serviced payments made via unregulated sites.

“Last week, Mastercard was offered alongside cryptocurrency as a payment method on nine websites targeting UK customers with deals for casino games and live sports betting,” reported The Observer. “Visa was also offered on two of those sites.” 

“Both companies are understood to profit from the arrangements, earning a small fee each time a transaction is made.”

The sites, which include FatPirate and Gransino, have previously been accused of scamming gamblers out of their winnings, and inundating problem gamblers with advertising.

“The findings raise questions about the role of the payment giants in facilitating unlicensed gambling transactions – and about the apparent failure of regulators to tackle the sites in the first place.”