This means that players do not need to use cash while playing. The aim of the law is to encourage a cashless society with pubs and slot businesses as the winners. However, there are some concerns about feeding gambling addictions.
No credit cards allowed!
The ministers believe that banning the use of credit cards on the machines is one way to ensure that players do not develop a gambling addiction. There are already casinos that offer more straightforward payment options, such as a UK PayPal casino, and other measures have helped prevent abuse of the system.
Besides banning credit cards, players will not be allowed to spend over a certain limit on their cards. The limits are set automatically, and when the players hit it, the staff will be alerted to prevent excessive losses. So which systems will not be allowed? For now, contactless payments are still not permitted. There is, however, an exception for Apple Pay because it requires authorization.
Industry lobby groups in the sector believe that this is a welcome development and expect the law to be set in motion as quickly as possible. Other dissenting voices, such as the Gambling with Lives charity, do not agree with the passage of this law. For one, they believe that it would enable gambling addictions if card payments become the norm. This argument is based on the premise that card payments are much easier, especially since there are a lot of pubs and slot businesses in the area.
The group, which has been known to support families of gambling addiction-related suicide, instead asked the lawmakers to consider reducing the amounts each player can deposit at a time and try to slow the spin speeds to deter players.
Recently, health chiefs in Sunderland reported that more than one thousand people could be harmed due to gambling. A rise in video games, as well as online gambling among young people, is responsible for this problem. The health chiefs believe that this habit has a negative impact on the mental health of players and could cause depression or, in extreme cases, suicide.
However, the council is currently organizing awareness meetings to tackle the issues the city is facing. There is a gambling help-prevention network for young people to help halt the problem before it becomes worse. Will this recent inclusion of debit cards help curb the looming problem in many parts of England?
The target is online betting
This new rule is expected to level the playing field for its online counterpart, online betting. Currently, players can access slots and other gaming machines only when they buy tickets or pay with their mobile apps. Tickets often have to be purchased from physical stores like vouchers and then the player can redeem its worth and play games with it.
There are also stake limits, which have been reduced again. For example, bookmakers can only permit max bets of £2, while those slot machines in pubs are limited to £1. A law from 2007 outlawed direct debit card payments. The plan was to ensure that it interrupted online gambling.
However, this led to some concerns about the machines losing their place in society because of the cash-only policies. For one, online casinos have taken a large chunk of the players because they offer more privacy and fewer restrictions. This is why the culture department, which handles gambling laws and regulations, fears these factors will make it obsolete.
When it becomes obsolete, there would be some disruption in the economy. After all, brick-and-mortar casinos and arcades provide some jobs for residents. The department believes that placing a cashless policy measure such as this will reduce the decline of these machines. It believes that it is needed now more than ever as more cashless payments have been the norm since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Limits remain regardless
The new law proposes to impose authentication for debit card payments. This means that players will need to provide a pin or chip before they can make payments with it. If they use Apple Pay, then they must include a biometric verification.
Players cannot spend more than £20 in one go. The deposit limit is set for each transaction but is even lower when it comes to low-stake fruit machines. There is also a wait time of thirty seconds for each player after depositing to get a payment approved. The idea is to mimic the time it takes to get cash from an ATM.
Besides deposit limits, the law also seeks to include mandatory limits for each session. It should be around 30 minutes for each session to give players enough time to cool off. This hasn’t been taken well by shareholders in the sector. However, the Gambling Commission intends to proceed with it.
How will these mandatory limits work? Well, the staff of the pubs or slot operators will be responsible for enforcing the limits. Most are already required by law to set limits to prevent gambling addiction. The staff of the establishment will often be alerted when the limits have been hit. However, this requirement will not cover the machines with the lowest stake offerings.
While the law is still under review, it is expected to come into force when the gambling commission begins its consultations, which lasts for three months. The legislation that brings this law can only be thrown out if the House of Lords or Commons object to it within that period.
Gambling operators are under a lot of pressure due to the role they play. This month, an Alderney-based gambling firm was fined £1m for failing to follow the guidelines for anti-money laundering and social responsibility. The company had paid a smaller fine in 2021 for the same purpose. Now, this fine will go toward socially responsible causes.
With these strict measures and recent law changes, we expect thorough compliance from both players and betting companies.