Argentina: Buenos Aires City Legislature to analyze ban on the use of credit cards for online gambling

Buenos Aires legislator Facundo Del Gaiso, from the Civic Coalition block, presented a new bill that prohibits the use of credit and social assistance debit cards in online betting, with the purpose of "strengthening the existing public policy regarding prevention and awareness of pathological gambling."

Del Gaiso's proposal aims at limiting the means of payment through which bets can be placed. He wants to prohibit bets made with credit cards with domicile in the Argentine capital as well as bets made with funds from accounts linked to the National Social Security Administration (ANSES) or those open to receive social assistance.

This measure seeks to ensure that gamblers have a more limited budget than the credit offered by credit cards. "On average, a credit card has a higher limit than what users have available on a debit card. Using the money available in accounts would discourage betting. Countries like England have already done this," Del Gaiso said.

La ⁦@ccari_ok⁩ lucha contra la ludopatia,la nueva pandemia de los jóvenes.
Voy a pedir el tratamiento de mi proyecto de PROHIBICIÓN de uso de tarjetas de crédito y de débito sociales para realizar apuestas on line. Vamos a ver cómo operan los Lobbies del juego y la política pic.twitter.com/I26hMV73jI

— Facundo Del Gaiso (@FacundoDelGaiso) May 10, 2024

According to the portal La Política Online, this initiative has already raised the alert of the Government of the city of Buenos Aires, which last year received almost ARS 100 billion from online gambling alone and does not want to lose one of its main revenue sources.

It should be noted that this bill is preceded by a similar one presented by Del Gaiso in 2021. In addition, the legislator is one of the signatories of the letter sent to the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) and to 33 virtual wallets in which it is requested to control these platforms and to take preventive measures for micro-payments by minors to illegal gambling companies.