Gambling on Credit Cards to be Banned

People are going to be banned to use credit cards for betting which is an attempt to curb the problem of gambling as stated by the Gambling Commission.

The ban is going to start by 14th of April as per the reviews received by the industry by the commission and the government. A total of about 24 million adults in Britain gamble as per research which also says that out of such high people betting 10.5 million of these do it online. As per some separate commission research, results are that 22% of online gamblers use credit cards and such people are classed as problem gamblers.

Gambling Commission chief executive Mr Neil McArthur said that "Credit card gambling can lead to significant financial harm. The ban that we have announced today should minimize the risks of harm to consumers from gambling with money they do not have.”

As per research data revealed there are examples of a large number of consumers who have accumulated tens of thousands of pounds of debt because of this serious habit of gambling. And this much debt has been created on them because of the usage of credit card dedicatedly. It has also been observed and evidence also shows that the fee which is charged by credit cards can exacerbate the situation because the person using the credit card gains the ability to chase losses to a greater extent. Culture Minister Mr Helen Whately also mentioned that whilst millions gamble responsibly but he has also met so many people whose lives have been turned upside down just because of this gambling addiction. There are clear pieces of evidence of harm from consumers who are into betting with money they do not have of their own. That’s why it is right that credit card companies and also government act decisively to protect them.

Chris Murphy also declared the because of his habit of gambling he has lost more than £100,000. This was the result of his serious addiction towards the game which has led him to such a worse situation. As per him he has been trying to stop himself from playing this game from more than 10 years but was not able to do so because he was able to gamble on a credit card and use of cards made it easy have re-lapses. He also says that there have been so many times when he had gambled free for months. He has incidents that when he borrowed some amount of money from a payday loan site or a credit card next day he has lost all his money on checking once he woke up next morning and created a few thousand pound worth of debt. This has made him feel like he will never get free from this.

This rule of the ban by credit card companies for gambling will apply to all types of gambling be it online or offline gambling products. But an exception has been provided to lotteries that are run for good causes. But these lotteries will have to provide a significant layer of additional protection to vulnerable people.

The commission has told that tickets for lotteries like Satta King as well as for the National Lottery can be bought with credit cards in supermarkets and newsagents but it’s possible as long as these lotteries are purchased with other products.

It is also stated that it would be a disproportionate burden on retailers to stop credit card payments if the tickets were part of a wider shop, but some of the lotteries had the lowest problem gambling rate.

When Josh one more addicted gambler of just age 27 found himself £600 down after gambling for just a few days online because of using a credit card, he says he did the worst thing possible. And that is he chased the loss which was advised by everyone not to do. All his known and friends too asked him to stop and not chase losses as it is always going to be down in the long run. But unfortunately, he didn't believe it so he just carried on going. This passion of his towards gambling ultimately progressed without even making him realize that debt has gone to an extent between £20,000 and £25,000 and that too all this on credit cards. He always felt that he was someone who is more intelligent and who wouldn't do that. He thought he is not that type of person but ultimately he was.

Now Josh is in the condition of a person who will face this fact that his debts will have a long-term effect on his life. He wishes and estimates for eight to ten years to pay off this huge amount of debt.

Share prices for betting companies also started felling during early trading on Tuesday but then it recovered quickly. As per the new regulations, all online gambling operators will have to participate in the Gamstop self-exclusion scheme. It has offered it to all customers from the 31st of March. People who are going to sign up for Gamstop will be prevented from using British gambling websites and apps for a limited period as decided.

As per Mr Brigid Simmonds, chairwoman of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) industry body strongly welcomed the requirement for all companies to join GamStop. She also declared that ban will be implemented on credit cards which adds to measures such as age verification, markers of harm and affordability checks, additional funding for research, education and treatment and new codes of conduct to protect the consumer.

Adam Bradford, co-founder of the Safer Online Gambling Group also rightly said that while the credit card ban was welcomed but still it is not a silver bullet to solve the problem as the gambling industry still needs to improve in many areas like performing better types of affordability checks on players who are interested in game of betting. It was also suggested that the gambling industry should be more careful with its advertising.

As the ban is going to be implemented very soon so it has a great scope to reduce gambling as loss bearing capability will decrease and people will have less to invest in gambling in case they are not having money of their own.