Georgia Adds MCC 7995 Payments to International iGaming Licences
Random Systems Georgia said the framework reached full operational launch on September 28. The first licensees are preparing to start, although no operator has yet been named publicly.
The regime had its soft launch in July after the new permit rules took effect. At that point, the story was mostly about licensing. The September update adds the part operators need after getting a permit: banking and payments.
Banks Begin Operator Onboarding
The current GISG package includes Georgian corporate bank accounts, Visa and Mastercard acquiring under MCC 7995 and integration with the gambling monitoring system.
MCC 7995 is the card-network code used for gambling transactions. Under the Georgian setup, it sits alongside the corporate account and licence rather than being treated as a separate payment arrangement.
This is the main change from the proposal that 15M covered in June. That earlier proposal covered three foreign-facing gambling categories and excluded Georgian players. It also set out a 5% tax on GGR.
The permits run for five years. The annual permit fee is GEL100,000 per category, equal to about $38,300 using the September 28 exchange rate of GEL2.6080 per dollar. The fee is separate from charges linked to gambling revenue.
Random Systems says Georgian banks have already started onboarding applicants. What is still missing is a named operator that has completed the process and begun taking bets under one of the international permits.
Monitoring Fee Now Stands at 1%
Older descriptions of the Georgian monitoring system can show a 0.5% GGR fee. The current rate is higher.
Government Ordinance No. 535 raised the electronic monitoring charge to 1% of monthly GGR from January 1, 2026. That change predates the July launch of the international licence regime.
Operators under the current framework face the 5% GGR tax plus the 1% monitoring charge. The GEL100,000 annual permit fee is charged separately.
First Live Operator Has Not Been Named
Georgia has not yet identified the first international operator to complete onboarding. For now, the September milestone is on the infrastructure side. Random Systems says banks have started onboarding applicants, while MCC 7995 acquiring and monitoring are included in the operating setup.