The UK wants to ban credit cards from the gambling industry

The Labour party strikes again. MPs from this political organization are well known for their attacks on gambling, and this time is not an exception. This time, however, their idea has support in the parliament. Is it a good initiative? Let’s find out.

The problems with gambling in the UK

The gambling industry in the UK is far from being perfect. Recently it was struck by numerous scandals that shook up the society and led politicians who wanted to tighten up the screws in the industry to get active about their proposals.

One of the problems with gambling that they indicate is gambling on credit. Each year £11 million of credit funds are wagered in the country. This fact is cemented in the nation’s memory by the latest scandal of a man who got himself into enormous debt.

A UK national played for the whole night and got himself into £150,000 of debt. He will have to pay for this mistake for many years.

So, gambling on credit is a problem. How do we tackle it?

Banning credit cards is justified?

If you think about it, there’s no reason using your credit card should be legal. Surely, the government should give their citizens the freedom of actions, but in this case, freedom may cost too much.

The thing is using credit funds to gamble, or to buy drugs is not something you want to do. While most people can control themselves and will stop, some will go beyond the limit.

Some people will ruin their lives because they have access to credit and make themselves bankrupt for decades. This is why it’s not a big deal to limit the use of credit funds on such an abusable activity.

A minor inconvenience for regular players

For the regular players, this won’t be much of a problem. If you have a job, the odds are you have a debit card. You can use one for gambling just as you could before this proposition gains any traction in the parliament.

If you only have a credit card, you won’t be set back for more than five minutes. You can use any e-wallet, deposit your funds there, and continue playing.

For those who are addicted to gambling, however, this will be a much-needed help.

The ban doesn’t solve everything

However, here lies a problem. If you can easily make a deposit on credit funds while using an e-wallet as a proxy, there’s nothing that can stop a problem gambler.

Despite the fact that many gamblers will stop using credit funds for playing just because it’s uncomfortable, many will continue to do so. The ban will only decrease the number of people playing on credit.

The man who got into a £150,000 debt over gambling wasn’t using his credit card either. He was using a PayPal weakness many problem gamblers know about. He sent payments via the platform before PayPal had an opportunity to take the funds from his bank account.

The gamblers who have a desire to gamble no matter what will continue to do so, disregarding the regulation.

The ban doesn’t solve everything, but you can. Reach out for help if you feel like you can’t control your hobby anymore. Talking to someone is better than driving your whole family in debt.