The UK government has announced plans to allow people to use debit cards to gamble on gaming cabinets. This move is intended to help pubs, casinos, and arcades compete in an increasingly cashless society, according to ministers.
Cash still banned
However, gamblers will still not be able to use credit cards on the machines. There will also be a cap on how much they can spend in one gambling session, with staff alerted when limits are hit. Systems that require payment authorization, such as Apple Pay, will be allowed, but contactless payments will remain banned.
Mixed reactions from the industry
The Betting and Gaming Council, a gambling industry trade body, has welcomed the “much-needed” changes and called on ministers to set out a “clear timeline” for the relevant legislation.
However, Gambling with Lives, a charity that supports families bereaved by gambling-related suicide, said that slot machine venues were “taking over our high streets” and that card payments would make the machines “even easier” to play.”Anything that increases access to highly addictive machines cannot be seen as a positive,” co-founder Liz Ritchie told the BBC. “We instead need to look at how we make these machines safer, by reducing deposit limits and slowing spin speeds.”