The U.K. will allow cashless gambling at its casinos and anywhere that has slot machines, the BBC reported May 16.
As the use of actual “cash” becomes less common, especially among the younger generations. Accepting debit cards is a competitive necessity, rather than just an advantage.
That is the argument of the government ministers who made the change. They assert that this change will make brick and mortar casinos, arcades and pubs more competitive with online casinos.
Although debit cards will be allowed in slot machines, credit cards won’t be. Moreover, there will be an upper limit on how much gamblers can spend per session. Casino employees will get a notification when the limit is reached.
Touchless payments, except for systems such as Apple Pay, where payment authorization is required, will still be banned.
The U.K.’s Betting and Gaming Council, whose members are in the industry, hailed the “much needed” changes and asked the ministers to set a timeline for the legislation that would make it possible.
That cannot happen until the Gambling Commission completes its three-month long consultation, which should begin soon.
That was not the view of Gambling With Lives, a charity that was created
in 2018 by families bereaved by gambling-related suicide. It warns that allowing cards to work in slots will make it easier to play. Co-founder Liz Ritchie said, “Anything that increases access to highly addictive machines cannot be seen as a positive,” adding, “We instead need to look at how we make these machines safer, by reducing deposit limits and slowing spin speeds.”
Currently slot machines can only accept debit cards through mobile apps, or by purchasing tickets for the slots. Legislation passed in 2007 banned direct payments from debit cards to create “natural interruptions” of play.
However, as society becomes more cashless, the U.K.’s culture department argues that slots in physical casinos might become obsolete if they can’t compete with online casinos.
Machines placed in pubs have seen a decline in profits since the Covid-19 pandemic. This goes hand in hand with the tendency for more consumers to pay for daily necessities with cards instead of cash.
Under the proposal, debit card transactions would require authentication similar to Apple Pay, there would be a £20 deposit limit one on session, and delays in getting the payment approved to mimic the time it takes to make a cash withdrawal from an ATM.
