title: Germany — Payments and banking: Can we move player money? | advennt.io canonical: https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/germany/payments/ [Jurisdictions](https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/) [Germany](https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/germany/) Payments and banking Germany · Question 06 of 11 # Payments and banking: Can we move player money? Mixed · Probable · Expert approved · 1 post-review update · Not reviewed · In expert review scope · [Back to full Germany report →](https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/germany/) Key section parameters | Jurisdiction | Germany (DE) | |---|---| | Regulator | Recorded in register | | Favourability | Mixed | | Confidence | Probable | | Review status | Expert approved · 1 post-review update · Not reviewed · In expert review scope | | Last collected | 23 Oct 2026 | Summary answer Land-based operators can offer every payment form including cash payments, except for crypto-currencies. Online operators must restrict their payment methods to transactions involving certified and licensed bank institutions seated in the EU/EEA. Cash payments are not allowed, neither are crypto cu… Not reviewed Information added after the 8 Jul 2026 expert review — published for currency and labelled not reviewed. 4 Oct 2026 Not reviewed GGL joined a coordinated statement among European gambling regulators targeting unlicensed online gambling, the advertising that promotes it, and the payment flows that sustain it. Under the standing GlüStV 2021 framework, unlicensed remote gambling targeted at or accessible to players in Germany is prohibited, and this prohibition extends to associated payment-flow facilitation. The coordinated statement signals an emerging cross-border effort to disrupt payment access for non-compliant operators rather than a purely domestic German initiative, and it should be read alongside the broader rise in GGL prohibition-proceeding volume as part of a single tightening enforcement posture. No specific German payment-blocking action tied to this statement has yet been evidenced, and the joint-statement text itself was not directly retrieved this cycle, so the precise mechanics of any resulting payment-flow disruption remain to be confirmed. ## Full section analysis Land-based operators can offer every payment form including cash payments, except for crypto-currencies. Online operators must restrict their payment methods to transactions involving certified and licensed bank institutions seated in the EU/EEA. Cash payments are not allowed, neither are crypto currencies. In case of customer cards, a closed loop must be ensured for anti-money laundering reasons. GGL enforcement against payment intermediaries intensified recently without a change to the underlying statutory basis. The GGL's accessory-liability powers under sec. 9 IST2021 extend to payment service providers facilitating deposits to unlicensed German-facing gambling operators, and the 2025 enforcement cycle saw explicit targeting of payment blocking and hosting providers as part of the anti-illegal-market campaign. This is likely rather than confirmed. The practical implication for payment infrastructure is that PSPs processing gambling-related transactions for German-facing brands face escalating exposure to GGL blocking referrals and reputational risk if they cannot confirm the downstream operator's GGL licensing status. The draft Zweiter Änderungsstaatsvertrag, if enacted, would further embed network-level blocking obligations on internet access providers, reinforcing the payment-blocking vector at the infrastructure layer. No new statutory payment-method permissions or withdrawal-obligation changes have been identified recently; the payment-flow risk picture is one of intensifying enforcement under existing statutory authority.