Evaluation of the Credit Card Ban

Evidence suggests that the use of a credit card is associated with greater harms among people who gamble. Credit cards provide a convenient means of borrowing to fund gambling, which can facilitate significant gambling-related debt. This can lead to direct and indirect gambling-related financial harms.

Great Britain was the first country to implement a complete ban on credit card use for online and offline gambling in April 2020. The ban prohibits licenced gambling operators from accepting payment by credit card, including payments through a money service business. The credit card ban was designed to add friction to the process of gambling with borrowed money, adding a layer of protection to vulnerable people to reduce gambling-related harms. It is important to note that the ban was implemented at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Aim and objectives 

The aim of this evaluation was to assess the impact and effectiveness of the credit card ban. The specific objectives of the evaluation were to:

• Determine the degree to which the ban has been implemented as intended;
• Examine the extent to which credit card users changed their gambling behaviours as a result of the ban;
• Understand the impact the ban has had on gambling-related financial harms experienced by people who gamble with borrowed money;
• Understand the impact of the ban on affected others and people who gamble who are not currently experiencing harm; and
• Examine how the COVID-19 pandemic interacted with the implementation and outcomes of the ban.

Key findings

• The credit card ban was successfully implemented, however, communications about the ban did not reach all people who gamble.
• Overall, the ban was perceived to be a positive change by people who gamble; friends and family affected by gambling; and gambling treatment/support providers.
• People experiencing moderate and high levels of problems from gambling were the most likely to be aware of the ban’s implementation.
• The increased friction imposed by the credit card ban did not always result in changed patterns of gambling.  
• People experiencing no reported problems from gambling, and people experiencing low levels of problems from gambling were more likely than people experiencing moderate and high levels of problem gambling to report reduced use of credit cards to gamble and use of borrowed money to gamble post-ban.
• Most people who gamble reported that their borrowing behaviour did not change post-ban, and nearly all continue to avoid illegal forms of borrowing.
• There was no change in the likelihood of being aware of tools to minimise the risk associated with gambling products
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic added challenges to implementation, making it difficult to distinguish the impact of the ban from the impacts of the pandemic.

Methodology

The report draws on the evaluation framework that was developed in line with a Theory of Change (ToC) setting out the outcomes and assumptions surrounding the ban. This is a mixed-method evaluation, consisting of three workstreams:

1. Scoping: Development of an evaluation plan and research tools.
2. Quantitative: Repeated cross-sectional secondary analysis of existing quarterly Online Tracker Survey trend data related to people’s gambling behaviour (e.g., online and in-person gambling, use of different forms of borrowed money for gambling), pre- and post-ban. Main analyses were conducted on data from seven waves (five pre-ban and two post-ban).  
3. Qualitative: In-depth interviews with people who had gambled with a credit card (n=20), people affected by someone’s credit card gambling (n=7), and organisational stakeholders (i.e., treatment / support providers, gambling operators, and financial operators) (n=7). All topic guides were informed by the ToC, and all interviews were analysed using an inductive (data-driven) approach. COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour) model and Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) were also used to inform the development of the topic guide and the deductive analysis of interview data for the interviews with people who gamble.