Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 15 June (HL8254), what assessment they have made of any loopholes to this restriction, in particular the 'Pay by Phone' loophole.

In April 2020, new licence conditions came into effect which banned both online and land-based gambling operators from accepting payments from credit cards (including via e-wallets) for gambling services.

The Gambling Commission has published an interim evaluation of the ban on credit card gambling which showed that the measure had been successful and that there had not been widespread displacement to other forms of credit as payment, but the Commission has committed to continue to monitor the situation.

‘Pay by Phone’ transactions are not directly covered by the ban but are limited by law to £40 per transaction and no more than £240 per month. These limits cover all services charged to telephone bills, such as music downloads. This is not a common means of spending on gambling, currently accounting for around 0.4% of annual gross gambling yield (including lotteries), and the Phone-paid Services Authority market review suggests that gambling expenditure via telphone has decreased since the credit card ban was introduced.