Gambling on credit cards banned

PUNTERS will be banned from using credit cards to place bets online and in shops.

The new rules, which come into force on April 14, will affect all types of gambling except the National Lottery.

More than a fifth of the 800,000 punters who use a credit card to place a bet have a gambling problem, according to the Gambling Commission. It revealed that 165,000 betting customers made £46million of credit card deposits in just one month last year – the equivalent to £280 each.

The new rules, announced by the commission yesterday, are a victory for the Mail which has campaigned for greater protection for vulnerable players and their families. Around 24million Britons gamble, almost half of them

A SHAKE-UP of gambling laws could lead to restrictions on football shirts carrying the names of betting firms.

Ministers are reviewing the 2005 Gambling Act and are widely expected to tighten the rules governing how bookmakers operate. A ban or limits on shirt sponsorship are under consideration.

Half the clubs in the Premier League and 17 out of 24 sides in the second-tier Championship have a gambling company as a sponsor of their team strip.

using websites. The commission said it had seen punters fall into ‘tens of thousands’ of pounds of credit card debt, with some chasing their losses to try to pay it off.

One problem gambler, Chris Murphy, lost more than £100,000. He told the BBC: ‘There have been times when I’ve been gambling-free for months, and then borrowed money from a payday loan site or a credit card, and woke up the next day having lost all my money and created a few thousand pounds of debt. It made me feel like I would never get free.’

Players will still be able to use debit cards, cash or online payments sites such as PayPal.

MPs and campaigners welcomed the change but last night warned it would not prevent players from using overdrafts or payday loans to fund their habits.

The Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, said it was a ‘significant step in progressive policymaking’. However he added: ‘This is no more than a tweak to gambling legislation and regulation. Fundamental reform is needed.’

Shares in major UK-listed gambling companies – such as William Hill and GVC, which owns Ladbrokes Coral – fell yesterday.