As you all know, using a credit card to fund an account at an online casino is not allowed. This is a ban set by the UKGC and there is no way around it. You cannot use this method at any of the UKGC-licensed online gambling sites, period. Of course, you can find online casinos that work with credit card payments without a problem but what about the ban itself? Today we are going to explore why this ban is actually beneficial and why players need to be happy about it.
First Things You Should Know
Before we move to the basics and the main reasons, we need to explain why this ban took place. In the United Kingdom over 22% of gamblers used this method to pay the debt they made gambling online. What this means is that over 800.000 people sued for a credit card. Keep in mind that there are over 10 million gamblers across the country. This is a huge issue due to the fact using a credit card to pay out gambling debt is a severe problem.
As a result of the study, all credit cards were banned from being used in the online gambling industry in the UK. They can still be used on other sites that don’t cooperate with UKGC. However, those sites are not appealing to all players and bettors from the country.
Benefits Players Will Get
There are a couple of benefits here players will appreciate. All of these are possible thanks to the ban we are discussing. The main goal of the UKGC was to make online gambling safer and more appealing to bettors and gamblers. Today you will understand this when you read the main benefits that are present.
Ban Prevents Gambling Addiction
As you may know, using a credit card to fund your gambling passion is not wise. You can gamble when you don’t have the money and you can place a bet at any given moment. This makes gambling look far less severe than it actually is. Because you can gamble using the card when other methods are not available the risk of gambling addiction is too high.
If you are one of the people who have this addiction, you need to know the obvious. You need help and you need help soon. This is the same form of addiction as any other and it can have a huge, negative effect on your life and also on financial stability! Starting the treatment as soon as possible will make the solution much easier and faster so you need to start today.
The main idea of the payment restriction for UK gamblers is to make gaming impossible when you don’t have the funds. This is the key ingredient to preventing gambling addiction. It means that you can gamble only when you can afford to gamble.
Promotes Responsible Gambling
As you all know responsible gambling has a huge role in the modern world. It means that a player will bet and gamble only when he or she can afford to gamble. When a player cannot afford to gamble, he will not be able to place a bet which is great.
This benefit is closely related if not the same as the first one above. But, it has a huge role in all of this and it can make a massive difference. There is no need to add that all gambling sites are not promoting responsible gambling. You can see a dedicated page on the site and you can see the details.
Prevents Financial Instability Due To Gambling
Gamblers love to use credit cards to gamble because they can gamble when they don’t have the money to gamble. As such, they can jeopardize financial stability and they can cause a lot of problems later in life. This can be a huge problem for all gamblers and it is one of the main reasons why credit cards had to be banned from use in online gambling.
When you use a credit card to fund your account balance you will borrow the money from the bank. Borrowing is always easier than paying back so you can easily borrow a lot more than you can pay back. This is the problem right here. You can easily make a massive debt and you will have to pay it back. Paying back the debt can be a problem, especially if you didn’t have any luck gambling at the site where you have used the card.
The Final Word
The credit card ban in the world of online gambling is more than just positive. It has a huge role in all of this. The main purpose of this was to make online gambling safer and more appealing. It also should make this hobby safer for all people and help them play responsibly. When credit cards are accepted, responsible gambling is far more complicated and even impossible in certain cases. That’s why the ban has been active since 2020 and it will remain active indefinitely. The ban is here for you and to help you gamble responsibly.
