Caesars drops credit card deposits across U.S. sites

Caesars Entertainment on May 4, 2026 removed credit cards as a deposit option on its U.S. online platforms, including Caesars Sportsbook, Caesars Palace Online Casino, Horseshoe Online Casino and WSOP Online. Credit card funding remains available in Puerto Rico and Canada. Customers can still fund accounts with debit cards, ACH/eCheck, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, prepaid Play+ cards and cash deposits at retail locations where offered.

The change follows similar actions by other large operators. DraftKings ended credit card deposits in August 2025. FanDuel removed them on March 2, 2026. BetMGM began a phased rollout starting March 31, 2026, and bet365 ended card deposits on April 13, 2026. Fanatics’ sportsbook has never accepted credit cards. Several smaller operators continue to allow cards in some markets.

State regulators have already restricted credit card funding in several jurisdictions. Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Vermont prohibit credit card deposits for online gambling. Virginia enacted a ban earlier in 2026. Lawmakers in Colorado, New Jersey and New York are considering bills that would limit or ban credit card deposits.

Analysts expect limited financial impact from the shift. Jordan Bender, an equity research analyst at Citizens JMP Securities, expects the effect to be minimal and noted DraftKings’ handle did not change materially after it removed card deposits. Macquarie Capital analyst Sam Ghafir called the long-term impact “quite small” and estimated credit cards account for roughly 10% to 20% of U.S. gambling account deposits. Ghafir said users who fund with credit cards tend to be new or casual bettors and that activity could dip for three to six months before normalizing.

Industry participants cite higher processing fees for credit card transactions and rising regulatory scrutiny as reasons for removing cards. Analysts add that eliminating cards can lower payment costs, reduce future policy risk, and affect operators’ environmental, social and governance profiles.

Caesars has not published a detailed explanation of the timing. The company retains multiple alternative funding methods, which operators say settle faster and present fewer chargeback risks than credit cards.