A bill has been introduced in Pennsylvania that would prevent players from using credit cards to fund their gambling accounts. This would make the Keystone State the fourth US state to pass such a law.
Support for the Bill
The bill, Senate Bill 1159, was introduced by Senator Wayne Fontana, a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate. The proposal suggests that operators ‘may not accept a credit card as a form of payment’ for any online gambling activities, including daily fantasy sports, lotteries, and other related activities.
Fontana put out a memorandum in March to drum up support for the proposal. He received six cosponsors of the bill, made up of five Democrats and one Republican. Fontana, who is a well-respected member of the Senate, having been there since 2005, believes that the move will help the state tackle an increase in problem gambling.
The Senator also pointed to the average credit card debt of people in the state, which currently sits at $5,640. He believes that online gambling is only going to be another factor in this rising problem.
Success in other States
The bill will now be passed onto the Pennsylvania State Senate’s Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee before it reaches its next stage. It is currently too early to say whether the bill is likely to pass, but it has received positive support so far.
If the bill is passed, Pennsylvania will become the fourth state to pass a credit card ban, with Iowa, Tennessee, and Massachusetts putting bans in place in recent years. The latter two of these states banned credit cards from the launch of online gambling in America, while Iowa passed the law in 2020.
The UK is another major market that has banned the use of credit cards to fund gambling, and the ban is seen as a great success.
