Online casinos, thus far, have proven themselves to be somewhat recession proof.  Despite a poor economy, online casinos continued to increase profits and increase membership.  However the global economy is also dealing with a serious credit crunch.  Experts do not believe that online casinos will be able to avoid being affected by this much longer. 

According to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, online casinos and the Internet gambling industry will suffer a serious dent of at least $11 billion between 2009 and 2012.   

“The charge off rate is not all, credit lines are forecast to be cut by $2 trillion for 2009 in the US alone and the average default rate has risen to 10.4% of people and continues to rise with further job losses,” said Warwick Bartless, CEO of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants.

Credit cards are the life line for online casinos, not just in the United States but also in Europe and the rest of the world.  No less than 70 percent of all online gambling transactions are conducted using a credit card.  The industry is bound to face problems with banks tightening credit and payment defaults on the rise.  

The world is slowly starting to recover from the recession.  There is still quite a distance to travel until we are completely out of the woods, but at least the economic freefall has stopped and the Dow is back on the rise.  Online casinos may have already weathered the worst part of the storm, but in better times they certainly could have made a lot more money.