Mar 13, 2024 4 min read

Montenegro has recently banned electronic payments (via Article 68f), including online betting and financial services. The ban is currently in effect, but there’s a strong pushback and a petition to revert it.

Just a few days ago, the petition reached 25,000 signatures, which doesn’t sound like much, but you need to keep in mind that Montenegro is a small country. These 25,000 represent 8% of all adults in Montenegro, which is a figure that no one can ignore.

So, here’s the current status of this ban, its political, legal, and economic implications, and the state of the petition. More importantly, here’s a bit more context on the subject matter.

Impacts on the gambling industry in Montenegro

The key thing to remember is not just the fact that this may be unconstitutional (as the Montenegro Bet Association claims) but also that Montenegro is a small country with a huge casino industry.

The country’s main industry is tourism, and the casinos are one of its biggest draws.

Still, online casinos are most at risk. In a traditional casino, you can still walk in, buy your chips, and play. The problem is that online casinos have no alternative payment methods, and there are many active players in Montenegro.

If this ban passes, it will be literally impossible to access the functions of these sites, and even the best draws and bonuses, like the ones listed here, won’t be able to fix the situation. For online gaming, it’s a massive loss of potential income.

The problem is massive, especially since roughly 2% of Montenegro’s workforce is employed in this sector (in some capacity). The country already has a 15% unemployment rate, which means there’s a huge risk of this slight change tipping the country over the breaking point. The economy is not great as it is, and if these casinos are forced to close down, we’re talking about a massive loss of employment.

The hospitality industry already took a huge hit during the pandemic, and now that some fields are rebounding, things might be more difficult once again.

Opposing the EU law

More importantly, Montenegro, a recent addition to NATO, has strong aspirations of becoming an EU member, which means that they also have to think about the broader implications of this financial decision.

The EU Payment Services Directive directly opposes the law since it fosters consumer protection and payment service transparency across the union and guarantees an equal position for both new and old players in the market. The EU aims to have the same system for old members and new candidates, and a severe law will make this impossible.

The dreaded Article 68f effectively denies electronic payment companies access to the EU market.

The irony behind the ban

One of the reasons behind the ban was the high criminality rate in the country. After all, even the country’s former president (and long-term leader) was on Interpol’s most wanted list, which puts the country in a high-risk zone by default.

The idea of the article was to help combat money laundering; however, it’s only made things worse and more difficult to track. You see, according to the EU 4 and 5AML directives, cash transactions are considered the riskiest.

Cash and crypto transactions are impossible to trace, unlike electronic payments, which always leave a digital footprint.

In other words, indirectly, this article will encourage the use of these riskier transaction methods and make it even harder for authorities and regulatory bodies to keep their fingers on the pulse. This will make the original intention nearly impossible to fulfill, and there are concerns that matters will become even worse.

The future of Montenegro’s gambling industry

The implications and ramifications are huge, and while there are some good intentions behind the law, it’s clear that the regulators didn’t really think it through. A country dead-set on joining the EU and passing laws that directly contradict EU laws and regulations is definitely not a sensible move. Not to mention the share that the gambling industry has in Montenegro’s overall economy. Still, the petition is going strong, and it just remains to wait and see how it plays out.