In the United Kingdom currently, there is plenty of conversation surrounding the gambling industry. The Autumn Budget announcement next month will potentially have catastrophic consequences for gambling operators but in the more recent past, restrictions on online slots wagering and greater intervention by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) in the form of financial affordability checks have put gambling in the UK under the spotlight.
The truth is, the UKGC have been trying to solve issues that have arisen from the rapid rise of online casinos and online bookmakers for many years since the Gambling Act was revised to include online gambling in 2005. One of the first initiatives to be inflicted onto the gambling industry occurred in 2020, when the UKGC decided to ban the use of credit cards on any form of gambling. This included land-based casinos as well as online operators. From 14th April 2020, the UK witnessed the first ripples of the gambling landscape changing.
Why were credit cards banned?
With online activity ramping up in the last two decades including online shopping and of course, new forms of online entertainment such as online gambling, the UKGC made it their immediate mission to try and affect all forms of potential harm from online spending on casino classics such as blackjack, roulette, and slots in a positive way. Most of us have owned a credit card and understand the concept of accumulating debt to then pay it off by a pre-designated deadline.
In March 2018, the UKGC concluded that this concept of accumulating debt was extremely harmful to gamblers who would often spend more than they could afford. In the present day, there are around 1.4 million Brits who admit to having a gambling problem, but that figure would arguably be higher if it were not for the credit card ban.
Effects of the ban
The ban on credit card usage for gambling purposes certainly did prevent a lot of harm, but that work has been somewhat nullified by the rise of credit card casinos that still offer this payment method. Usually operating out of the clutches of the UKGC, online casinos not licensed by the UKGC started to appear on people’s radars, especially with the increased effectiveness of VPNs.
However, for players in the UK, the overall effect of the ban was well received. As we saw with the number of people with a gambling addiction in the UK, the ban did not serve as a silver bullet for those issues. With other payment methods such as debit card, e-wallets, and prepaid cards available to the playing public, there were many other ways to finance online gambling. But the ban on the easiest way to spend money at least raised awareness of overspending.
Spend within your means!
The objective of the ban was to eradicate the idea of playing with borrowed money. The UKGC was successful on the whole in achieving that. Since then, other measures have been introduced to help control spending, including deposit limits, wagering limits, and reality checks. The notion of “spending within one’s means” has always been high on the UKGC’s agenda to ensure safe and responsible gambling in the UK. The credit card ban was the first significant step to achieving this and one many individuals will surely be grateful for.
