The National Lottery of Ireland has decided to suspend credit card payments on its Lotto draws and games.
The change will affect new users of the National Lottery services. As revealed by the Lottery’s officials, as of February 4th, customers will no longer be permitted to link a new account to a credit card or commercial card. The ones who already have a credit card linked to their account will not be affected by the credit card ban for now but will have to make some changes soon.
So far, the option to link their account to a credit card has provided National Lottery users with the chance to programme their favourite numbers to be selected for each NL draw, with the draw payment made automatically by using the card.
The ban on the use of credit cards comes as part of the National Lottery’s efforts to improve responsible play and make consumers more aware of the dangers that reckless gambling could bring to their lives. The promotion of responsible gambling has been one of the main reasons for the newly-unveiled decision to phase out the use of commercial cards and credit cards as a payment method when using the National Lottery’s services online.
National Lottery Debit Card Payments Will Not Be Affected for Now
The company that owns the Irish National Lottery said that it will get to a stage where only pre-paid debit cards and personal debit cards would be accepted in gambling payments and noted this was the best practice to present users from using money they cannot afford to lose or simply do not have in order to pursue “easy” National Lottery money.
As revealed by Ireland’s National Lottery, the ban on new credit cards is only the first phase of the measures that will be followed by a second phase in which customers will not be permitted to add money to their accounts using credit cards or commercial cards.
The National Lottery of Ireland told customers it would make sure to warn them before the changes are about to take place.
The newly-unveiled changes are set to affect only players who use commercial and credit cards, so they have been encouraged to switch a debit card as soon as possible to avoid any disruptions in their accounts at a later stage. The customers whose accounts with the National Lottery are linked to a debit card have been told they do not have to take further action.
The Irish National Lottery has made the move after the UK unveiled a ban on credit card payments in lotto gambling. Previously, the chief executive officer of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), Neil McArthur, had said that the use of credit cards in gambling could lead to significant financial harm. Now it seems that Ireland is following suit and probably has in mind some changes that would help it tackle problem gambling rates and gambling-related harm in order to protect vulnerable individuals.
- Author
Olivia Cole
