LONDON, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- In a bid to reduce problem gambling, Britain's Gambling Commission unveiled Tuesday a plan to ban people from using credit cards to gamble in the country.
The ban, which comes into effect on April 14, will apply to all online and offline gambling products with the exception of non-remote lotteries including the National Lottery, providing additional protection to vulnerable people, according to the regulator.
"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," said Neil McArthur, chief executive of the commission.
"Research shows that 22 percent of online gamblers using credit cards are problem gamblers, with even more suffering some form of gambling harm," McArthur added.
"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," said Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism) Helen Whately.
The ban follows a public consultation conducted between August and November 2019. Data from the Gambling Commission revealed that 24 million adults in Britain gamble, with 10.5 million of those gambling online.
Meanwhile, figures from the UK Finance, a trade association for Britain's banking and financial services sector, showed that some 800,000 consumers in the country used a Britain-issued credit card for gambling in 2018.
