[ad_1]
The Government plans to allow the use of debit card for slot machine gambling.
In a cashless society, ministers say that the move allows pubs and casinos to stay competitive. Gamblers are still prohibited from using their credit cards on these machines.
There will also be limits on how much money can be bet in a gambling session. The staff are notified when the limit is reached. Apple Pay will be accepted, while other contactless payment systems will not. Betting and Gaming Council (a lobbying group representing the gaming industry) welcomed these changes and called on ministers for a timeline to implement the new legislation.
Make Your Own Online Easily
According to the government, the changes are a part of an initiative that aims at leveling playing fields with online gambling. At the moment, gambling machines are only available with indirect payment methods such as mobile apps or special tickets. In recent years, stake limits have been reduced, with fixed-odds terminals in betting shops capped at a maximum bet of £2, and £1 for machines in pubs.
In 2007, legislation was passed to stop direct debit card payments. This is intended as a way of preventing interruptions during play. The culture department that oversees gambling law warns, however, that the decrease in cash use could make these machines obsolete, while other games are “easy to find online.”
It also stated that it could undermine the viability and employment of arcades which are “affected by pandemic and support jobs.” The department also stated that accepting debit card payments would help offset the decline of machine revenue in pubs following Covid. More people now pay with cards for their food and drink and are carrying less money.
Minimum Deposits
According to the changes proposed, payments made with debit cards for gambling purposes will be authenticated by means such as Apple Pay’s biometric authentication or chip-and-PIN. Similar to cash transactions, there will be a £20 limit on the amount that can be deposited onto a machine in one go, reduced to £2 for low-stake fruit machines, penny falls, and crane grabs. Players are advised to wait for at least 30 second after the payment has been approved to deposit cash onto machines.
A separate consultation will determine the mandatory session limit. This will then be decided by the Gambling Commission. The limits will be followed by a cooling-off time of 30 seconds. Staff in pubs, despite objections by the industry, will be alerted to mandatory and voluntary limits that players set. These alerts do not apply to machines with the lowest bets.
The legislation will come into force automatically in the event that either House of Commons, or Lords object within 40 days. But the draft legislation will not be ready until after the Gambling Commission has completed its consultation process, expected to start in the next weeks and continue for three months.
[ad_2]
