UK considering credit card ban for gambling deposits and purchases

UK lawmakers are considering a ban on the use of credit cards for gambling purchases, including deposits to online gambling accounts. It’s the latest example of an ongoing effort to curb problem gambling by any means necessary, but what kind of impact would such a ban have on the online gambling industry?
Banning the use of credit cards as a means of halting gambling addiction is an idea that the Labour Party has been kicking around for quite some time. Within the past few months, however, the idea has picked up steam and was recently embraced by Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright.
In recent statements, Wright has pointed out that more than 20 percent of deposits made at gambling facilities (both land-based and online) are made with credit cards. Those credit card deposits total around $11 billion worth of cash when all is said and done.
Proponents of the gambling credit card ban point out the ease at which players/addicts can breeze through large amounts of cash that they don’t actually have while gambling on a credit card. Shadow Culture Secretary Tom Watson pointed out the case of a UK woman who burned through more than £100,000 ($131,000 USD) in two days using nine credit cards on gambling sites.
Watson chided the industry in a statement reported on by YogoNet saying, “The operators which took her bets should be held responsible for their disgraceful conduct. No one should go into debt to place a bet.”
What’s been missing from the discussion about banning credit cards from the gambling business is how exactly online casinos would be able to accept deposits from remote players. Regardless, UK lawmakers seem dead set on coming down on the gambling business and they don’t seem to care about the consequences for gambling operators.