DraftKings is pushing forward with an ambitious plan. Starting from today, August 25, the sports betting and gaming operator and brand will no longer accept deposits and bets funded by credit cards.
The announcement was made on Thursday last week, and it outlined a firm commitment towards reducing gambling-related harm.
Credit cards are out as a funding method in DraftKings – and more
Allowing consumers to bet on credit has been linked to increased spending and regulatory trouble, as DraftKings was fined in July in Massachusetts, where the company had to pay $450,000 for allowing sports bettors to gamble with credit cards.
To avoid confusion, DraftKings has decided to roll out a blanket prohibition across the US for the use of such funding methods.
Although not universal, some jurisdictions in the United States have already prohibited the use of credit cards for the purposes of gaming and gambling, seeing them as too excessive and drawing on best practices from overseas jurisdictions.
DraftKings's brush with the regulator in the Bay State, is another incentive for companies to avoid such costly mistakes. Yet, DraftKings is hardly the only company to have already opted for similar options, with rival Fanatics Betting & Gaming, and Jake Paul-backed backed, Betr, similarly deciding to block credit card payments.
The measure also applies to credit card funding of alternative payment services. In other words, if a player were to use their credit card to fund their e-wallets, and they try to deposit at DraftKings across the nation, they would not be able to.
There is no federal-level ban on credit card use for gambling, but other jurisdictions employ nationwide bans. Australia, the United Kingdom, and other European jurisdictions have been fast to embrace the measure.
