Online Casinos See New Law Banning Credit Card Betting

Posted by Edd On April 13, 2020

From 14th April 2020 credit cards will no longer be accepted as a payment method by any UK online casino or UK gambling site.

This follows the Gambling Commission’s review of online gaming and the Government’s Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures to ensure the industry is seen to be acting in a more responsible manner and help alleviate credit card debt due to online gambling.

From this date you will not be able to use any credit cards to make deposits, but it will not effect payments via debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

The new regulations aim to make online gambling safer.  So now people will have to have money in the bank to gamble on-line via one of the above methods or via a cash deposit.  They won’t be accumulating debt on a credit card which they can’t afford to pay off so preventing players getting into financial difficulty.

“Credit card gambling can lead to significant financial harm. The ban that we have announced should minimise the risks of harm to consumers from gambling with money they do not have” commented Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive.

“We 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.

“We realise that this change will inconvenience those consumers who use credit cards responsibly but we are satisfied that reducing the risk of harm to other consumers means that action must be taken. But we will evaluate the ban and watch closely for any unintended circumstances for consumers” Mr McArthur concluded.

Recent research estimates 24 million adults in Great Britain gamble, with 10.5 million of those gambling online. UK Finance estimate that 800,000* consumers use credit cards to gamble.

Separate research undertaken by the Commission shows that 22%** of online gamblers using credit cards to gamble are classed as problem gamblers – with even more at some risk of harm.

The new ban applies to all online and offline betting, except the National Lottery and other lotteries run for good causes.

Data sources:

  • *800,000 consumers in the UK used a UK-issued credit card for gambling in 2018. Data source UK Finance.
  • Separate research undertaken by the Commission shows that 22%** of online gamblers using credit cards to gamble are classed as problem gamblers – with more at some risk of harm. Data source: gambling participation research, March 2019. The research was conducted online by Populus and covered a representative sample of c.2000 adults, of whom c.150 had reported using a credit card to gamble online.

Don’t worry though UK online casinos can still accept debit cards as usual so if you don’t have one set up in your casino account here’s what to do:

On desktop:

  • 1. Click on ‘My account’ Icon
  • 2. Go to ‘My Account’
  • Go to ‘Payments’
  • Click ‘Card Details’
  • Remove all credit cards
  • Add new Debit Card

This is just one change that’s making gaming safer.

References:
www.thesun.co.uk/money/10732950/gambling-watchdog-bans-credit-card-bets/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51103006
www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/news/2020/Gambling-on-credit-cards-to-be-banned-from-April-2020.aspx