Pennsylvania wants to ban credit cards for gambling

Pennsylvania is the latest state in the United States to seek and prohibit the use of credit cards for the purposes of gambling. A new bill filed earlier this week, Senate Bill 1159, and backed by Senator Wayne Fontana, is looking to achieve just that, posting a number of comprehensive rules that will effectively prevent players from overspending, or gamble away money that they do not own.

The move is long overdue across the country as a whole, which has been on a path to strengthen consumer protection measures with a newly floated national voluntary self-exclusion program earlier this month as well.

The bill proposes to suspend credit card funding for lottery, daily fantasy sports, online casinos and sports betting. Senator Fontana has been an outspoken supporter of responsible gambling and has insisted on comprehensive measures that actually allow to address the issue on a core level.

Responsible gambling has been a serious issue, Senator Fontana has insisted, taking a personal interest in how many state residents were actually showing signs of addiction. A recent report into addiction per state indicated that Pennsylvania is indeed one of the most addicted states as well.

Pennsylvania, for example, the report stated, have around 3% of its adult population addicted to gambling, and was the fifth most addicted state in the country. Limiting access to credit cards for the purposes of gambling seems like a sensible step forward.

Major jurisdictions around the world, from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom, to Australia, have passed comprehensive measures ensuring that credit cards cannot be used to fuel gambling habits across the population.

Senator Fontana believes that Pennsylvania is overdue for a measure of its own. Senate Bill 1159 is still up for debate this session, but there seems to be little reason for the draft law not to move forward.

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