Gamblers could be banned from using credit cards to bet

WATCHDOGS are launching a review into whether gamblers should be allowed to use credit cards to place bets.

The cards are used to wager as much as £8.6billion each year, but MPs say they can plunge addicts into a spiral of debt.

It comes after a Daily Mail investigation raised concerns about giant betting firms preying on vulnerable customers by offering them rebates, cash incentives and VIP perks.

Bet365 – Britain’s biggest online gambling company – currently allows customers to use credit cards, as do most other major betting firms, although they admit it is a ‘high-risk payment method’.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for gambling, said: ‘The fact you’re allowed to use credit cards to gamble is appalling. I have spoken to so many people who have used card after card to fuel their addictions. The fact it’s that easy for people to destroy their lives is utterly unbelievable.’

Some banks, including Barclays, Lloyds, Santander and the Royal Bank of Scotland, allow customers to block themselves from gambling on debit and credit cards. But Mrs Harris believes banks need to ‘take more responsibility’ to help problem gamblers by giving them the power to set limits on the amount they can bet.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, spokesman for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, added: ‘If you went to the bank and asked for a loan because you wanted to go to the casino you would be laughed out of the branch so there is no justification for allowing gambling via credit cards.

‘Betting more than you can afford is a sign of problem gambling, so permitting gambling on credit cards facilitates and endorses harmful activity.’

Campaigners on the issue say a ban on credit cards is long overdue. Last year the Labour Party announced it would prohibit them to tackle what it described as Britain’s gambling ‘epidemic’.

The Gambling Commission’s credit card review will be launched later this week and could lead to tougher regulations. As part of its review, the watchdog will hear evidence on the practice and consult with the gambling companies. The commission said last year that it had begun assessing the merits of a credit cards ban. The Uk’s leading problem gambling charity, GambleAware, has also backed the measure.

Jeremy Wright, the Culture Secretary, last month said he would discuss credit card gambling with bookmakers and banks ahead of the regulator’s review. He said: ‘Protecting people from the risks of gamblingrelated harm is vital.

‘All businesses with connections to gambling – be that bookmakers, social media platforms or banks – must be socially responsible.

‘The Government will not hesitate to act if businesses don’t continue to make progress in this area and do all they can to ensure vulnerable people are protected. We should ask if it is right that people should be able to gamble on credit and this is an area the Gambling Commission are going to look into.’

Gambling with Lives, which represents families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, said: ‘The facilitation of gambling by credit offered by banks requires stricter control and action on this is crucial. Gambling addiction is a serious health problem that can lead to suicide.’

A Daily Mail exposé this week revealed how betting firms entice customers by routinely rewarding them with cash returns on big losses.

Campaigners say the rebate schemes can lock vulnerable players in a spiral of betting that can develop into serious addiction. MPs have called for a ban on the practice.

Ministers are under pressure to tighten legislation as figures show 480,000 problem gamblers in the Uk and a further two million at risk.