Spain readies credit card ban for gambling operators

Life is tough for European facing gambling operators. All across the Continent, and in the UK, lawmakers and regulators are cracking down on an industry they say is operating out of control. Earlier this week, UK regulators made a move to ban the use of credit cards in gambling transactions – a move that’s likely to have a big impact on operator’s bottom lines. And yesterday, the FACUA-Consumidoresen Acción, the Spanish consumer rights watchdog, announced plans to implement a similar set of credit card reforms in their country.
The group sent word to Podemos deputy Alberto Garzon, who is getting ready to take over the the FACUA-Consumidoresen Acción as the new PSOE-Podemos government takes power in Spain. The left-wing political party has long had gambling reform on its radar and it now has the political clout to implement those reforms. As part of that plan, they’ve transferred oversight of the gambling industry from the Finance Minister to the FACUA-Consumidoresen Acción.
The consumer watchdog issued a statement on its position, reported on SBC News, saying, “The association asks the government to follow the example of the 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.”
Lawmakers across Europe are embracing this type of reform in an effort to reign in marketing techniques they say are predatory. How the new rules will actually impact operators remains to be seen.