Call for Ireland to Ban Credit Cards in Online Gambling

A betting industry lobby group has called for the Government to follow the UK and ban credit cards in online gambling.

Problem Gambling Ireland said the introduction of such a ban here could have a significant impact in tackling gambling debt.

“Having a facility for people to gamble with money they don’t have is extremely dangerous,” Barry Grant, chief executive of Problem Gambling Ireland, said.

However, Mr. Grant said such a ban is unlikely to be introduced in Ireland until the country’s long-awaited independent gambling industry regulator is in place.

The UK Gambling Commission has said that, as of April 14, British-based punters will not be able to use credit cards to make bets or deposit money into online betting accounts.

The UK ban will apply to all online and offline gambling products, with the sole exception of over-the-counter lottery tickets.

Before Christmas, Mr. Grant described as “absolutely shocking” industry figures showing Irish punters gambled close to €10bn — including more than €800m on lottery and scratch card products — last year, making Ireland the seventh-highest gambling country in the world.

“As a nation, we are developing an increasingly dysfunctional relationship with gambling,” he said at the time. Research by the UK’s betting regulator classes 22% of online gamblers, in the country, who use credit cards as “problem gamblers”.

“The ban on credit card usage for UK gambling deposits likely represents a low single-digit percentage risk to related gaming revenues. The latest in a recent series of more onerous regulatory changes, it also acts as a further reminder that the UK opportunity is no longer what it once was,” Davy analyst Michael Mitchell said.