IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Money and Mental Health respond to ban on gambling on credit cards

14 January 2020

Today, the Gambling Commission has announced that gambling on credit cards will be banned from 14 April 2020. 

In response, Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said: 

“Gambling can have a devastating impact on our finances, mental health and personal relationships, so we welcome the ban on gambling with credit cards, which can be a particularly expensive way to place a bet. It could make a big difference in helping people who are struggling to manage gambling to avoid really serious financial harm.

“But for this ban to be effective, we also need action to help people who may be gambling using other expensive forms of credit, like overdrafts. We also want to see more banks offering tools to help people to manage their own spending on gambling.

“It’s great that lots of banks have introduced optional spending controls in recent years, allowing consumers to make their own choice about whether they want to allow gambling payments. But to really help people to avoid problem spending, banks need to make it harder to switch these tools on and off in the moment, when the impulse to gamble is strong.”

ENDS

For more information or to set up an interview, please contact Brian Semple, Head of External Affairs at Money and Mental Health, on 07935 216 804 or brian.semple@moneyandmentalhealth.org