The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) will recommend banning the use of credit cards across all online gambling verticals, according to a report by The Sunday Times and The Observer.
Expected to be officially published this week, it appears inevitable that the UKGC will urge the government to implement a ban on all credit card transactions, as a means to eradicating what it describes as online gambling firms ‘exploiting vulnerable customers’.
The UKGC’s recommendation comes after a year-long consultation sanctioned by DCMS, in which the Commission reviewed the regulatory structures and industry safeguards attached to monitoring betting via credit.
The decision and judgement of the governing body is much anticipated by the UK’s sports betting industry and acts as an affirmation that a period of regulatory changes will continue into the year ahead for UK sports betting.
Last August, the UKGC commenced with a 12-week consultation period, in which the commission asked diverse industry stakeholders for insights and opinions on regulating credit wagering, with a credit card ban outlined as a potential governing outcome.
Further regulatory oversight, had seen the House of Lords Committee researching the ‘social and economic effects of gambling’, understanding and getting the personal experiences of former gambling addicts and their use of credit cards and access to instant loans funding their gambling habits.
Continuing progress, UK online gambling stakeholders anticipate a further year of regulatory scrutiny and further disruption, as the Conservative government commits to undertaking a review of the ‘2005 Gambling Act’ – whose legislative provisions PM Boris Johnson deemed as ‘being analogue in a digital world’.
