Updated: 2024
In a landmark move by the British government, the use of credit cards are prohibited for the use of gambling, both online and offline, as of April 2020.
This, therefore, restricts the methods available to players looking to fund their casino accounts and play casino games or bet on sports. The only exception to the rule is for the National Lottery – due to the expected difficulties implementing these rules would have for shops within the UK.
These rules have been laid out by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission who has had an on-going clampdown on gambling in recent years. Notably, this has seen two reviews of gambling by the government and stricter compliance regulations on how casinos can advertise themselves and their bonus deals to UK players.
The Reasoning
The reasoning behind the push to restrict the use of credit cards has been described by the CEO of the Gambling Commission, Neil McArthur, as being a means to prevent players “gambling with money they do not have” with him citing figures that say that 22% of gamblers online currently use credit cards as their preferred payment method to gamble. This equates to around 80,000 British people using them.
McArthur elaborated on the issues that this can bring about for these players. Explaining that, “We also know that there are examples of consumers who have accumulated tens of thousands of pounds of debt through gambling because of credit card availability. There is also evidence that the fees charged by credit cards can exacerbate the situation because the consumer can try to chase losses to a greater extent.”
These new rules have been confirmed to be put into place by Brigit Simmonds, chairman of industry body the Betting and Gaming Council, who said they would implement the ban and also cited the need to deliver safer gambling as to why.
Source: CNBC
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