Gambling credit card ban officially announced

The Gambling Commission has announced that they are going ahead with their proposed ban on the use of credit cards for gambling. The ban will come into effect on 14th April 2020, but what does this mean for you and why is the ban necessary in the first place?

After pressure from the UK Government to look into credit card gambling harm, a consultation was held to determine whether the ban would reduce gambling harm. You can read the Gambling Commission's report here.

The research reveals that most members of the public involved were in favour of a ban on credit card gambling, including people who have been negatively affected by credit card gambling and those who have not.

Frustratingly, none of the gambling operators who responded to the consultation supported a ban. Despite forming a new safer gambling initiative late last year, these operators are still suggesting that credit card use is not a direct factor in causing gambling harm. However, they do state that credit card misuse is an indicator of potential gambling harm in their player base.

Instead, they have suggested that a ban could just end up sending problem gamblers to other, more harmful money borrowing options. However, 50% of the high risk credit card gamblers questioned in the consultation said that they would stop gambling or use their own funds to gamble if credit cards were banned.

Today’s report suggests that a “Lack of friction in the credit card deposit process” has caused tens of thousands of pounds of in unrepayable gambling debt.

The report suggests that the perception of monetary value is lost when depositing with a credit card, which makes it too easy to spend money you don’t have. A ban will make it harder for gamblers to use borrowed funds for gambling, which should hopefully deter people from gambling beyond their means.

Of those involved in the consultation, 22% of credit card gamblers were problem gamblers. Though there are many gamblers using credit cards who are not at risk, the gambling commission feels that the positive effects of the ban will outweigh the inconveniences.

As a result, the Gambling Commission is going ahead with a total ban on credit cards for online gambling. This ban will also affect e-wallets like PayPal, as now they must be able to ensure that credit cards cannot be used to deposit onto a gambling site. 

If you don’t use a credit card to deposit on an online bingo site or casino then you should not be affected at all! However, if you are a credit card gambler then you will need to deposit using a debit card from 14th April 2020. 

If you do not wish to use a debit card then there are plenty of other bingo payment methods to choose from, but be aware that these will need to be compliant with the Gambling Commission’s new rules before you can use them.