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Betting on football is extremely popular, as you already know. In the UK for instance, over 6.38 million people bet on sports. On the other hand, 43% of the whole population will bet on football only. This is one of those numbers that is growing as we speak and will continue to grow. But, if you want to bet on football events using your credit card, you are out of luck!
Credit Card Use in Online Football Betting
Since the 14th of April 2020 using credit cards to place bets in the UK is not allowed. The ban came from UKGC after shocking research. The study was conducted in 2019 and it involved 474 people. 71% of them used a credit card to fund their account at betting sites at least once per month. 38% of them invested under 10GBP and 30% invested over 50GBP.
Because using a credit card is not the same as using a debit card, UKGC decided to ban them for use in online gambling and betting on football. Currently, the majority of sports sites do not accept credit card deposits, however, some players still use NonGamStopBets credit card betting sites that are available in the United Kingdom. They believed that the risk of gambling addiction and financial instability was too great. This is one of the benefits the ban came with. Another one is that players can bet only with the money they actually can afford to invest, which is the base of responsible betting.
The drawbacks are still present. Some players didn’t like the idea and they used alternative methods. Others started placing bets at offshore sites where credit cards are still accepted. These sites don’t have a UKGC license.
Another disadvantage of the ban is that some sites will charge much higher fees than usual when you want to bet on football. As you can see, the ban is not perfect and it depends on how you look at it.
The Credit Card Ban: Why and How
In the aforementioned study, the one you can check online and learn useful things was important. It was discovered that people using credit cards to bet on football are at a much higher risk of developing a gambling addiction. They are also at a higher risk of jeopardizing their financial stability and ending up in debt.
The mentioned ban was implemented with great success and it is an effective one. UKGC issued the statement and a requirement in which all these sites with their license that offer betting on football or any other type must not accept credit card deposits. As such, a bettor will be unable to deposit funds, claim the bonus and place bets. Each transaction of this kind will be declined and there is no way around it. As the owner of the credit card, you can’t do anything.
Impact of the Credit Card Ban on Football Betting
Once the ban was applied to the betting sites and casinos, we were able to see the first results. As CC is one of the most popular payment methods in online gambling, some bettors liked the idea and they supported it. Others hated the idea and they didn’t like it at all.
We do know that 37% of the participants said that they would bet with their own money only. We also know that 26% of the people will not gamble at all. There were no other issues or important facts we need to mention here when it comes to borrowed money for gambling and betting. There was no increase in the amount of borrowed money bettors used to place bets.
All we can add here is that the ban was effective and it helped bettors. It didn’t have any huge side effects as some bettors expected it to have. In fact, many players just shifted to placing bets with the money they actually have and they have been doing this ever since.
One of the important parts of responsible betting is to play with the money you have in your bank account or in your wallet. Nowadays gambling regulation is tightened and you need to understand that is only for players’ safety. If you use a credit card for that, you technically don’t have the money to gamble and you will have to borrow it. As such, responsible betting is not possible in that case scenario.
Alternatives and Solutions for Bettors
There are some alternatives we would like to discuss here. The first one is to use debit cards. You will play with the amount of money you can invest and afford. All betting sites will allow you to use a debit card of your choice and there are no completed issues you have to worry about. You can deposit the funds in seconds and place the bet.
If you want an alternative that is a bit different, you can use cryptocurrencies. A fun fact is that you can use a credit card to buy crypto and then use the crypto to fund the account at a betting site. This is one of the methods some bettors have been using.
There are e-wallets as well. You can link them to your bank account or a card and use them to find the account. One advantage is that they are fast and you can use them for withdrawals as well. The withdrawals are completed within 1 hour most of the time.
Conclusion
Credit cards will remain banned for use on online betting and there is no obvious way around it. The odds are extremely low that UKGC will remove the ban in the near future. If you want to bet, do it responsibly. Use a debit card or any other form that involves using the money you have and own. Betting with borrowed money is not a clever idea.
