This is a roundup of online gambling news from the last seven days.
UK ban on credit card gambling comes into effect
An important bit of online gambling news out of Britain this week. The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) banned the use of credit cards for gambling, starting April 20, 2020. As per the regulator, this will add another protection layer for gamblers. The idea is to reduce the chances of consumers gambling away credit and to protect them from debt.
In January the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the UKGC announced the ban would be effective from April. This ban also extends to gambling through e-wallets backed by credit cards. Non-remote lotteries have been excluded.
Research carried out by UK Finance revealed that close to 800,000 people in the UK use credit cards for gambling.
Pennsylvania scores record iGaming revenue in the month of March
The majority of Pennsylvania’s land-based casinos shut down earlier than many other States due to Coronavirus. The industry expected that online gambling revenue would be all over the place. When the PGCB released their latest figures, there were no surprises.
A good number of Pennsylvania’s casinos had launched their online platforms during the summer last year. There were seven partnerships which resulted in a wide range of online slots and casino table games. They hoped to pick up revenue from their brick and mortar counterparts.
Pennsylvania’s iGaming revenue for the month of March stood at $24,265,820, 24.5% higher than that of February. It increased from $13,957,539 recorded in January. Numbers are expected to be even higher in April.
Increased online gambling not a cause of alarm in Australia yet
Recently published data from Illion and economic analysts AlphaBeta found iGaming activity in Australia increased by 67% in the last week of March. This was when compared to the weeks prior. Experts believe that this shouldn’t be treated as a cause for alarm just yet.
This was the same week that the Australian government introduced an economic stimulus package. This resulted in a spike in spending among households. It was also the week when most land-based casinos were officially shut down. The surge cannot be viewed as anything more than transferred business for the gambling industry as a whole.
Some of the new online gamblers might have a tendency to get carried away initially, numerous studies across different markets have shown that the provision of such new gambling options only causes a short-term spike. Consumers don’t take much time in adapting to the new reality, quickly bringing the figures back to the baseline.
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