Colorado enacts a ban on credit cards for gambling

• Colorado’s new gambling rules targeting betting on credit kick in
• New reports will be sent to players as well as published once every three years
• The first reports will start coming in 2028 and 2029

Betting on credit is a thing of the past in Colorado, with the state no longer permitting deposits on sports betting apps to be accepted if they use credit to fund the said deposits.

Colorado ends betting on credit

The move goes beyond merely credit cards, with e-wallets that were, in turn, topped up by credit devices also excluded, as per Senate Bill 26-131, which was passed in May by the Colorado General Assembly.

"Pernicious algorithms and advertisements are increasingly preying on vulnerable online sports bettors," state Sen. Matt Ball commented on the important changes that he has helped push forward.

Sen. Ball’s motivation is clear - he wants to ensure that the consumer protection measures that Colorado deploys are in lockstep with the pace of growth of sports betting popularity. The senator is one of four co-sponsors of the bill.

Apart from this, the bill introduces a limit on how much can be deposited in 24 hours on a rolling basis, and requires operators to inform consumers about the changes. The idea is to help safeguard consumers at a time when gambling is picking up fast, and putting people at risk.

The bill’s sponsors and backers bet that the changes will now help protect those most vulnerable and at-risk from the pernicious impact of gambling. Another addition is having operators report annually to consumers how much they have spent and gambled.

States are in flux - looking to strengthen consumer safeguards

The first such reports must be issued on February 1, 2028, with a public report to be issued every three years, and the first one set for January 1, 2029.

In the meantime, Colorado residents appear to be increasingly opposed to iGaming, with some 80% of locals saying so based on a poll from earlier this year.

Pennsylvania, another major sports betting state, has also been introducing changes to help safeguard consumers, with the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) urging the commonwealth to go a step further and add some of the new rules by default to new online gambling accounts.

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