PokerStars has struck a deal to allow its players in Mexico to fund their online accounts via the nation’s leading convenience store chain.
Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand announced this week that it had reached a deal with Oxxo, the country’s third largest retail chain. Oxxo operates over 13k convenience stores across Mexico, accounting for roughly 73% of the country’s total market.
The system requires players to login to their PokerStars account, select Oxxo as their deposit option and the amount they wish to deposit. Players receive an Oxxo coupon code, which they must then print out and take to any Oxxo branch within the next three days and hand over along with the cash. The funds will then appear in the player’s online account within one business day.
The system is a bit cumbersome, especially when compared with the instantaneous and paper-free systems like those William Hill US has worked out with 7-11 stores in Nevada or Ladbrokes Australia has with local newsagents. But it will give Stars’ Mexican players another option for getting money onto the site, so onward and upward.
Mexico is in currently finalizing plans to regulate online gambling and the latest word is that the gaming bill could be passed before the end of 2015. The country’s lower house approved the bill last December and the Senate was expected to do likewise post haste, but other matters were deemed more urgent.
Land-based gambling venues are currently taxed at 20% of gross gaming revenue but whether that rate will apply to online operators remains something of a mystery. Similarly, while the law would require online companies to base their servers within Mexico, it’s unclear if that means the country’s online poker market would be ring-fenced and excluded from the global liquidity pool.
Numerous online firms have been positioning themselves to prepare for the bill’s passage by striking deals with Mexican land-based operators. Playtech inked a pact last year with casino operator Grupo Caliente, while Ladbrokes launched its Sportium brand with Cirsa’s Casino Life business in January and sports betting technology provider Kambi Sports Solutions reached terms with PlayCity Casinos this June.
