Britain’s 24 million adult gamblers will not be able to use credit cards in gambling as the country plans to enact a new rule to ban using credit cards to place bets.
The Gambling Commission of the country said on Tuesday the ban, which comes into effect on April 14, will apply to all online and offline gambling products apart from over-the-counter lottery tickets, report BBC and Reuters.
People are to be banned from using credit cards to place bets, in an attempt to curb problem gambling, the Gambling Commission has said.
Separate commission research shows that 22 per cent of online gamblers using credit cards are classed as problem gamblers.
Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive, said: "Credit card gambling can lead to significant financial harm. The ban that we have announced today should minimise the risks of harm to consumers from gambling with money they do not have.
"We also know that there are examples of consumers who have accumulated tens of thousands of pounds of debt through gambling because of credit card availability.
"There is also evidence that the fees charged by credit cards can exacerbate the situation because the consumer can try to chase losses to a greater extent."
Culture Minister Helen Whately said: "Whilst millions gamble responsibly, I have also met people whose lives have been turned upside down by gambling addiction.
"There is clear evidence of harm from consumers betting with money they do not have, so it is absolutely right that we act decisively to protect them."
The ban will apply to all online and offline gambling products except lotteries that are run for good causes. These lotteries will have to provide a significant layer of additional protection to vulnerable people.
The commission said that tickets for these lotteries, as well as for the National Lottery, can be bought using credit cards in supermarkets and newsagents as long as they are purchased with other products.
It said it would be a "disproportionate burden on retailers" to stop credit card payments if the tickets were part of a wider shop, but said lotteries had the lowest problem gambling rate.
Share prices for betting companies fell in early trading on Tuesday, but then recovered quickly.
Under the new regulations, all online gambling operators will have to participate in the Gamstop self-exclusion scheme and offer it to all customers from 31 March.
People who sign up for Gamstop are prevented from using British gambling websites and apps for a chosen period of time.
Brigid Simmonds, chairwoman of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), said the industry body "strongly" welcomed the requirement for all companies to join GamStop.
She added: "We will implement a ban on credit cards which adds to measures such as age verification, markers of harm and affordability checks, additional funding for research, education and treatment and new codes of conduct to protect the consumer."
Adam Bradford, co-founder of the Safer Online Gambling Group, said that while the credit card ban was "welcome", it was "not a silver bullet to solve the problem as the gambling industry still needs to improve in many areas - for instance, performing better affordability checks on players and being more careful with its advertising".