The decision to ban credit card gambling in Great Britain has been described as "great news" to mobile payment providers, according to an industry executive.
Chief Commercial Officer at Zimpler, Rhi Burns, has told Gambling Insider the ban will open up the UK market to the mobile payment solution.
She said: "For us, I think it’s really good. We’re focusing mostly on instant bank transactions these days, as they are much safer and move away from credit.
"So I think it will mean markets where card has been one of the main methods users prefer will end up moving more and more towards different payment methods like bank, which will really open the door for us.
"The UK is not the market we have really considered, as it was so credit-card focused and this for us means now a whole new possibility and a new market in the UK. For us it’s good news; not so much for the users."
But, while it is a positive move for Zimpler, Burns questioned its overall impact.
Burns said: "I question whether it’s a great move overall because it doesn’t address the core issue, it's a knee jerk legislation. Players who are intent on depositing with credit will still find a way to do so - either by masking the payment source or finding unlicensed operators who will happily take their money.
"Instead, more should be done on a national scale to address the credit culture in the UK. Whether it’s gambling, car loans, home loans or compulsive shopping, people should not be able to get into more debt than they can reasonably afford and right now, it’s too easy to do."
The measure was recently announced by the Gambling Commission, which confirmed banning the use of credit cards to gamble in Great Britain effective from 14 April.
Estimates suggest 800,000 consumers use credit cards to gamble, with 22% of online gamblers who use credit cards assessed as problem gamblers, according to the Commission’s own research.
