Open Banking Can Change the Game in the Post-Credit-Card-Ban UK Gambling Industry

The consequences of the upcoming ban on credit card gambling in the UK might bring more financial harm to the i-gaming industry and inconvenience to responsible players than good to problem gamblers who constitute roughly 1% of 24 million adults who gamble in Britain. Fortunately, the situation opens the window of opportunity for open-banking payments – even more convenient than cards and e-wallets and not as controversial.

The official rationale of the new restriction imposed by the Gambling Commission (UKGC) might create an erroneous impression that most players in the UK are addicted to gambling and place bets using credit cards. In reality, according to the UKGC’s data, only around 800,000 people in Britain use credit cards for gambling, and just about 22% of those who do are problem gamblers. In other words, the newly introduced regulation, meant to protect less than 180,000 adults from getting into debt by making it just slightly more complicated, will push the remaining 620,000 responsible players, who gamble on credit cards just for convenience and simplicity, towards alternatives.

As e-wallets are very well known and broadly used among players, one could conclude that e-wallet providers are the grand winners here. An increase in the demand could be a good reason for them to raise prices. But the UKGC must know very well that wallet apps can be easily used as proxies for credit card gambling, and thus further restrictions might be a matter of time. But there is a way for all – gaming companies, gamblers, and the regulator – to achieve their goals without causing harm to other parties in the ecosystem. This can be done through open banking.

Open banking enables initiating direct wire transfers between players and gaming companies without the need for the former to leave the latter’s website and fill a transfer order form. The transactions are bank secure as the authentication process is, in fact, on the bank. It’s quick, easy, and does not require any third-party apps. The payee gets a notification on the transaction status in real time, so credits or virtual tokens can be added to a user account instantly, which means no interference with the overall gambling experience. Furthermore, this approach does not allow the player to spend more money than they have on their bank account, so it mitigates the risk of getting into debt. On top of that, pay-outs are easier and cheaper to handle as they take only as much time and cost as a regular Bacs BACS transfer (plus a small technical processing fee). I believe this might be a perfect solution for responsible gamblers who appreciate the simplicity of credit card payments as well as for i-gaming companies willing to enhance their overall user experience.

Problem gambling needs to be addressed, and people who suffer from gambling addiction as well as their families should be, surely, receiving appropriate support. Although, I don’t think the ban on credit card gambling could, in any way, be the form of support such people need. For the UK’s gambling industry and over 10.5 million online players, smooth open-banking payments can be a way to have a cake and eat it.

Straal is an international provider of payment, optimization and fraud prevention solutions for future-minded businesses. The company offers a comprehensive suite of products that make accepting digital payments easier, as well as more effective and secure. Straal enables accepting one-off and recurring payments carried out by customers with credit and debit cards of all major organizations, initiating transactions via open banking APIs, ordering SEPA Direct Debit cycles and more. Thanks to Straal, customers can pay in currencies of their choice (over 150 options), using their preferred desktop and mobile platforms, while merchants can effectively maximise their transaction approval rate and mitigate risk. Founded in 2017, the company is headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. www.straal.com