UK Politicians Ban Credit Cards at Online Casinos

We Look at Why UK Politicians Ban Credit Cards at Online Casinos

This may not come as a shock, especially with the turbulence over the past few years within the gambling market, but there has been another major change. The politicians from the British Government have decided to put in place some new laws regarding betting services. As a result, the Gambling Commission is a Government-run company and will be there to enforce these rules. This change that has come into place will affect all betting services or online casinos that operate within the UK. However, there is one exception to the new changes being put into place. These are lottery tickets. The gambling commission admits that as many of these are sold in retail outlets, they would be very hard to police.

Now the Gambling Commission is not only the company that make the rules and issue fines that regulate online casinos. Therefore, they also hold official statistics from the industry. According to them, a total of 24 million adults in Britain take part in gambling. They have combined this data with others from Thinktank U.K Finance. Therefore, showing that in 2018, more than 800,000 British gamers used their credit cards to gamble. With many politicians believing that credit cards lead to significant financial harm, it will lead to some major changes in the market.

What Was The Problem With Credit Cards at Online Casinos?

With further research showing that 22% of online gamblers that use credit cards are problem gamblers, changes needed to be made. Particularly to stop consumers from getting themselves into thousands of pounds of debt using this payment method. However, is a total ban across the board a step too far? Whatever your thoughts on this ban, it has already been in place for a few months. We are going to look into some of the changes that online casinos like Casimboo have made to follow the new rules. However, first, we must fully understand why this decision has been made.

The problem with credit cards does not fall to the online casinos or betting site themselves. In fact, the problem with this kind of payment method and how they work. As they work on a credit system, they allow you to spend money and pay it off in instalments. However, this is really money that you do not have yourself. And this is where the problem lays. Taking this an extra step and gambling with this money is what the gambling commission wants to stop. As you may think, some people have got themselves into some significant debts. This is opposed to debit cards, these only allow you to use money that you personally have in that account. These are seen as one of the best ways to use as it is funds that you have access too straight away.

Statistics Affecting the Online Casino Credit Card Ban

The decision to have a complete ban across the board for credit cards has relied heavily on research. The Gambling Commission are usually the ones that carry out the research within the industry. However, as they are government-run they can also call on research carried out by other reputable companies to compare and add to their records. This is how they have managed to achieve the accuracy they have regarding the credit card statistics. This newly introduced ban will be adding to existing measures like age-verification and affordability checks. All thought to make the whole market safer for gamblers.

However, like all decisions made within the market, this one has had some backlash. When you delve into the statistics used and realise the market had a value of £14.4 billion. You will see that the numbers of credit card users are very small. Therefore, this has been seen as an unfair move by the many gamblers who use credit cards and do not get into debt. This is especially evident with the current climate, with people not working due to the pandemic, they have less disposable income available. As a result, many regular players are were using their credit card. Therefore, these players will now need to start using a different payment system when playing at online casinos.

So What Alternatives Are There?

As credit cards were a prominent and popular payment method, those looking to use them will have to make a decision. This will be which new payment method to use? Many have climbed the ranks of trusted online payment methods, whereas, some are already household names. You will have to do a little research between all of the methods now offered all have their pro’s and cons. However, come of the most popular online casinos payment methods include;

• Debit Card
• Paypal
• Trustly

The methods of paying are constantly changing to allow the most popular ways to pay. With this in mind, you may see some new methods being allowed that you have never heard of. Some online casinos have really taken this to the modern-day. As a result, you will see that some new casinos will allow cryptocurrencies. This is a revolutionary method that has only just come into the market. It is unsure how this system actually works on winnings, however, this will only continue to evolve.

When talking of methods that are household names, it is important to remember debit cards are not under the same restrictions. Those who have previously used or plan to use a debit card can do so freely. As mentioned before, these cards only allow you to spend money that they have access to instantly. Paypal is also another method of payment that you can use which has become a household name. This offers a way to hold your money in an online account. Therefore, it can be easily connected and used to pay for almost any online service including casino services.