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Spain to Also Ban Credit Cards in Gambling?
January 16, 2020 Andrej Vidovic
Soon after UK authorities announced the permanent ban on credit cards in online gambling, there are voices in Spain that are asking for the same prohibition in their country.
FACUA- Consumidores en Acción, Spain’s independent consumer rights body, has started the initiative with Alberto Garzon, country’s Minister of Consumer Affairs, in order to push forward the ban of credit cards in gambling.
Is Gambling a Scourge?
They have deemed that January 2nd’s restrictions that were suggested by Podemos-PSOE coalition are a promising start…
…but that, ultimately, Government must go further than that. They have added that the restriction may help consumers to avoid debts which usually arises from betting with money that people do not have.
FACUA states:
“This measure would help to fight against gambling, a scourge that in recent years has continued to increase, especially in vulnerable groups such as youth and adolescents, as associations of rehabilitated players and studies in this field have confirmed.”
Following UK Suit
In early January, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission made it official that the credit card ban in online and land-based gambling was effective…
…which followed a public consultation. FACUA saw this as a great inspiration, praising the ban.
They have said that Spain’s government should follow the example of United Kingdom “which has just approved this measure of protection for the most vulnerable people, that aims to minimise risks to consumers by preventing them from accumulating debts due to gambling, making it the only country in our region that restricts the use of credit cards in this industry.”
The Six-Point Plan
The government in Spanish coalition has put forward a six-point plan for gambling regulation tightening…
…which includes working with regions to prevent gambling premises opening before 10 PM and limiting how close they are to schools.
The regulation of gambling industry, as proposed by these restrictions, is similar to gambling industry regulation enforcement. Since 2005, tobacco products in Spain can only be d where they are being sold and in non-EU publications for non-EU public.
However…
…the European Gaming and Betting Association is very skeptical towards Spanish government’s plans.
They said that while it welcomes measures which strengthen consumer protection, they also believe that these measures would push players to illegal operators, making matters even worse than they are.
Source:
“Spanish consumer rights body calls for credit card gambling ban”, igamingbusiness.com, January 15, 2019.
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I approve of this. It’s absolutely unacceptable that people are allowed to gamble making bank loans and with money that isn’t theirs. One can’t expect that people will be too responsible or reasonable on their own.