The measure would prohibit credit cards for all forms of online gambling and betting
Pennsylvania Senator Wayne Fontana is planning to propose legislation to completely prohibit the use of credit cards on online gambling and betting sites. He says it’s necessary to help restrain problem gambling and rising credit card debt.
“Online gaming and sports betting is growing exponentially, especially with young adults,” said Sen. Fontana on Friday in a brief statement on his website. “At the same time, credit card debt is climbing. So we need to make sure the greater access to gambling isn’t leading to burdensome or crippling credit card balances.”
Pennsylvania offers legal online poker but has yet to join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA) to combine player pools with Nevada, Michigan, Delaware, West Virginia and New Jersey. Some state lawmakers want to change that after introducing a bill to allow the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to cut a deal with MSIGA member states and join the group.
Besides his concerns about credit card debt, Fontana also has fears problem gambling in Pennsylvania. “…over 36% of online gaming participants in the commonwealth reported at least one gambling problem according to the 2022 Online Gaming Report produced by Pennsylvania State University in coordination with the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs as well as the state’s Gaming Control Board,” wrote Fontana in the Memorandum.
Fontana believes that using credit cards to gamble online obviously increases users’ credit card debt, and not everyone will be able to pay off what they owe. To him, it’s an unnecessary activity for credit card spending.
Those with addiction problems can easily deposit and re-deposit using credit cards instead of a source that requires cash to be available before using. Credit cards allow them to use money they don’t have and spend it quickly.
