The National Council on Problem Gambling has published a set of guidelines for payment providers.
The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), the US body that acts as an advocate for problem gambling, has issued new guidelines for payment providers, stating that they can play a “critical role” in reducing gambling harms.
The Guidelines
The guidelines are essentially a set of steps that payment providers can take to minimize the amount of gambling harm faced by consumers. Step one is for providers to actively encourage gamblers to set limits on game time and the amount of money that can be wagered.
In the announcement, Keith Whyte, executive director of the NCPG said: “Payment limits can be an important responsible gambling tool, offering a consumer-centric approach that emphasizes player control, information, and shared responsibility.”
The Council also said that daily, weekly and monthly limits should be encouraged and that payment providers could try to incentivize putting limits in place.
The second guideline was for the payment providers to adopt the use of robust know-your-customer checks. The NCPG said: “Operators should make every effort to verify the identity of customers through their payment history, including a thorough age and identification verification process when setting up their payment methods.”
The NCPG also said that self-exclusion is essential to help prevent gambling harm and that financial institutions should implement their own self-exclusion mechanics. On top of this, the NCPG said that financial institutions should use research to fight problem gambling and that payment providers should employ the use of personalized responsible gambling messages.
The NCPG also referenced the UK’s decision to ban credit card gambling and said that US regulators should consider the impact of allowing consumers to gamble using credit cards.
The situation in the UK
The NCPG’s new guidelines come just weeks after the UK Gambling Commission announced it would ban the use of credit cards to fund gambling. The Commissions’ ban on credit card gambling will come into effect on 14 April.
Last week, the UK regulator clarified that the ban will apply to all remote society lottery licensees, remote ancillary lottery licensees, and remote ELM licensees. Once the ban comes into effect, these licensees will not be able to accept remote credit card payments from methods such as online payments, payment over the telephone, by email, text message or fax.
Not only will the ban prohibit the use of credit cards to gamble, but it will also extend to using credit cards to gamble using e-wallets such as PayPal.
The Commission’s Chief Executive, Neil McArthur recently spoke at the CMS Gambling Conference 2020 where he said that the industry needs to work together to improve its image.
