By Charlotte Webster-
The GB Gambling Commission has launched a 12-week consultation on potential restrictions on the use of credit cards for gambling.
The consultation aims to gather opinions on new restrictions for credit card gambling, such as spending limits, or banning the use of credit cards altogether. The public and industry stakeholders are being invited to engage with the consultation to contribute to its final analysis on the matter.
The Gambling Commission’s consultation has as its objective, the goal of preventing excessive gambling or avoiding facilitating through the unrestricted use of credit cards.
Support for an outright ban on credit card gambling has come mainly from charities and third-sector organisations. Members of the public have been critical of operators for knowingly accepting borrowed funds from players. Many have also expressed concerns over a lack of safeguards currently in place.
OBJECTIONS
Some objections made by respondents express scepticism about the legitimacy of the idea. Many argue that players could always pursue other forms of borrowing besides credit cards, like payday lenders, loans or overdrafts. Others believe that players could circumvent any prohibition by funnelling money through e-wallets, or making cash withdrawals using credit cards.
The fact not all people who use credit cards to gamble are necessarily gambling addicts or suffer any risks from gambling problems has also been mentioned in objection to the plans.
Meanwhile, charity Step Change have released data showing that some people have incurred debt across several types of borrowing, and also restricting only one form of borrowing would have a led to limited impact on addressing harm.
The Money Charity said that a ban on credit card gambling could be too easily circumvented unless it was part of a broader package of measures. The view makes sense since gamblers could quite easily cash out the amount of money they wished to spend on gambling, and use it nevertheless.
What may make more sense is having an upper limit to how much money people can spend on gambling on any given occasion. That will be a tough expectation from operators who are primarily in the business to make money .