UK To Ban Gambling With Credit Cards in April 2020

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced a ban to prevent gambling companies from accepting credit cards for gambling from April 2020.

In 2018, over 800,000 consumers used a UK-issued credit card for gambling.

Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive, said:

“Credit card gambling can lead to significant financial harm. The ban that we have announced today should minimise the risks of harm to consumers from gambling with money they do not have. 

“Research shows that 22% of online gamblers using credit cards are problem gamblers, with even more suffering some form of gambling harm.

‘“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.”

The UKGC has also announced changes to the licence conditions which will require all online gambling operators to sign up to Gamstop and offer their customers the service from the 31st March 2020.

Neil McArthur said:

“We welcome the fact that GAMSTOP has got to this stage in their development and encourage them to continue to improve their offer, particularly in relation to preventing those who have self-excluded being targeted by direct marketing. 

“It is important that self-exclusion schemes are as effective as possible and they will be most effective when used in combination with other blocking tools such as gambling blocking software and payment card blocking."

What is GAMSTOP?

GAMSTOP is an independent self-exclusion service that offers consumers the choice to exclude from online gambling for periods of 6 months, 1 year or 5 years.

GAMSTOP has a large number of online gambling websites, but not all. With the changes to the UKGC's licence, GAMSTOP will have all online gambling websites in their self-exclusion scheme.