BLIK starts blocking payments to illegal gambling operators in Poland

BLIK has been told to start blocking transactions sent to illegal gambling operators, and the company says it has already implemented the measure from Tuesday, September 1. For high-risk PSPs, the point is simple: Poland’s main payment processor is now explicitly using the Ministry of Finance’s blacklist as a screening reference for both domestic and cross-border payments.

1. BLIK will block payments directed at domains listed on the Ministry of Finance’s register of illegal gambling sites. The company said it will use that register as the reference point and stop payments both within Poland and abroad when they are tied to those domains.
2. Monika Król, BLIK VP, said the move is an additional precaution. In her words: “We decided to introduce an additional mechanism to block transactions conducted by entities that are illegal under Polish law.”
3. The company says the step is meant to keep the platform aligned with state law and prevent it from being used to fund illegal gambling. The article says BLIK processes 2.9 billion transactions, estimated at around $118.56 billion in 2025 alone, which makes this the sort of policy shift PSPs cannot afford to treat as a side note.
4. Poland is actively pushing against illegal gambling online. The Ministry of Finance’s list currently includes 55,000 domains, and the register is growing by about 700 new domains every month.
5. Poland keeps a relative state monopoly on gambling, and the government is also promoting licensed sportsbooks such as LV Bet, STS, Fortuna, Superbet, Bukmachers, and E-toto Bukmachers. For PSPs, that means the regulated alternative is not theoretical; it is part of the compliance framework.