Poland’s BLIK Mobile Payment System Blocks Illegal Gambling Transactions

Poland’s BLIK mobile payment system began blocking illegal gambling transactions, both domestically and abroad, on September 1.

The move reflects the cross-border nature of the online gambling industry, where services may be licensed in the countries in which they are registered but still be considered illegal under Polish law, Monika Krol, vice president of BLIK operator Polish Payment Standard (PSP), said.

“That is why at BLIK we have decided to introduce an additional mechanism to block transactions carried out by entities that are illegal under Polish law, even though the regulations place the onus in this regard primarily on payment service providers,” she said.

Krol added that, under the new system, BLIK checks the domain associated with each transaction. A payment will be refused authorisation if the domain is listed in the Ministry of Finance’s official register of illegal gambling websites.

The data published by the finance ministry in May showing that the share of Poland’s online gambling grey market fell by 29.5% points in 2024 compared with 2017.

Illegal operators accounted for 29.1% of Poland’s gambling market in 2024, down from 58.6% in 2017.

Since 2017, the organisation of online gambling in Poland has been subject to a state monopoly, with sports betting and promotional lotteries being exempt from the monopoly.