Barclaycard - stopping gambling ....

[ProfessorSlocombe]

Interesting email from Barclaycard telling me that as of next year I won't be able to use it in any gambling or gaming establishment.

(Which, to be honest is the only time I have ever thought about using it in a gambling or gaming establishment, so I wonder if there might be a touch of the Streislands here ).

With the understanding that Barclaycard are a private company, and I can choose to use them or not, I wondered what people think of the idea of their financial services provider making such judgements on their behalf ? OK, maybe we all can say that lilmiting access to gambling isn't a bad thing. How about smoking ? Alcohol ?

It's probably generic. Barclaycard seem to take the approach that all their customers are idiots who think that credit cards are free money to spend and not pay back.

I get multiple texts and emails from them each month walking me through the process of paying the balance off via direct debit. Warning me that they'll take the money and how much it will be, making sure there's money to pay it, more reminders etc etc.

I wouldn't mind but I've had a full balance direct debit set up for years and have never missed a payment or paid them a penny in interest. I only have the card because I get cashback for using it.

Gambling companies are already banned from accepting credit card payments, see here:

https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/news/2020/Gambling-on-credit-cards-to-be-banned-from-April-2020.aspx

I take your point, but I don't think it's the same as alcohol or smoking. Gambling addicts could easily spend all of a £10k credit card limit in one night, whereas there is only so much alcohol/cigarettes you can physically consume even as an addict, so you are unlikely to take out several credit cards and get into financial trouble to anywhere near the same extent with these addictions. It is more akin to class A drugs, which are illegal obviously.

Barclaycard also probably realise that even if it had not been banned already, people that max out credit cards on gambling sites are highly likely to default on these cards as they have no money for the repayments, so from a business point of view they want to reduce their risk.

This is a positive step. With gambling you can lose thousands in minutes, the same cannot be said of smoking and alcohol. You shouldn't gamble anything that you can't afford to lose, if you're using a credit card then you can't afford to lose.

It's probably generic. Barclaycard seem to take the approach that all their customers are idiots who think that credit cards are free money to spend and not pay back.

Oh, I'm well aware of that. I didn't think it was a personalised dig at my lifestyle.

But in general, I was curious as to the views on whether banks and other institutions should be going quite so far in their regulation of customers spending. After all, gambling and gaming are perfectly legal activities, so this is effectively a moral stance by Barclaycard.

And if we are talking about financial institutions making moral decisions on behalf of customers, then I could think of other places to start. Especially for a company that was happy to bankroll apartheid back in the day.

Sorry may have misread the part about alcohol/smoking - you are saying that gambling is different from these, hence the restrictions appear fair. I suppose this is similar to the checks they run on mortgage applications e.g questioning why you have direct debits for gym membership and mobile phones to assess 'affordability'. This also comes down to legislation, in this case from the EU, and also their own risk assessments. As you say, they can do what they like but ultimately will do whatever makes them the most money, whilst complying with the law.

Sorry may have misread the part about alcohol/smoking - you are saying that gambling is different from these, hence the restrictions appear fair.

I'm not talking about the specifics of gambling. Just noting that once you establish the principle that companies are OK to watch what you spend your money on (because now they can) then what are the issues - if any - around such a development ?

Imagine not being able to buy contraception because your patriarchal bank decides it's "not appropriate" ? And so on.

I'm wondering if this is a development that can be sold to different people as different things, until we've lost something.

Worth noting how many MPs have repeatedly suggested that benefits should be hypothecated to what the state deems acceptable rather than paid as currency. So ideas like this only make that more possible.

I'm not brave enough to suggest it in FWR, but my experience in life suggests that being able to control spending is a long held wet dream of the male pride movement. Especially if it can be sold as "for your own good" which it seems some posters are already quite happy with in principle.

Am I alone in imagining :

Sorry, you can't buy formula with your card. You should be breast feeding.

I had this notification and worry that they will stop me spending on clothes I do really think it's good though but I imagine there will be lots of pissed off gamblers

This is absolutely a correct move by the credit card companies, it is about reducing access to money not a moral judgement on what the money is being used for.

But in general, I was curious as to the views on whether banks and other institutions should be going quite so far in their regulation of customers spending. After all, gambling and gaming are perfectly legal activities, so this is effectively a moral stance by Barclaycard

But its not a moral stance by Barclaycard. There's a new law come in banning credit cards being used for gambling.

They don't have any choice about it, except perhaps it may still be legal to use the card to buy food and drink in a casino, for example, but perhaps the infrastructure doesn't allow them to separate these legal purchases from paying for gaming chips, either directly or via people gaming the system (pun intended! eg buying a pint and £50 of tokens and putting the transaction through as 'drinks').

It's therefore a bit of a stretch to jump from the ban on use of credit cards for gambling to other purchases that may be contraversial to some, eg tobacco, alcohol, baby formula, contraception.

The law changed earlier this year so that you can no longer use credit cards for gambling. It ended up being great timing, too, what with so many people sitting at home and losing jobs.

I'm really concerned about the loosening up of advertising laws over the past few years. Gambling destroys lives, and the lives of their family and friends, and like someone else said above, there's only so much money you can spend on smoking but with gambling you can lose thousands of pounds in an hour.

For the most part, you can just withdraw cash to buy your formula, contraception etc if need be. If a gambler needs to withdraw cash and go into a bookies every time they place a bet, it will reduce their losses compared with just placing one enormous bet sat on their phone.

I don't know about the U.K. but here in Ireland having any affiliation to gambling sites can have a serious affect on your mortgage application.

@kittykat35

I don't know about the U.K. but here in Ireland having any affiliation to gambling sites can have a serious affect on your mortgage application.

Yes, that's true in the UK too.