Talking more about the UK gambling industry per se, it has always been open to new regulations, specifically to ensure that responsible gaming always stays as its top priority. It’s keeping this aspect in mind that the UK Gambling Commission recently made the self-exclusion scheme Gamstop mandatory for all UK-licensed casino platforms. Although there are casinos not on Gamstop too, UK players are being highly encouraged to play at only UK licensed casinos. Let’s now take you through some of the popular online casino gaming trends being witnessed in the UK right now.
Bye-bye credit cards!
Online casino platforms have always striven to be the best examples of convenience, entertainment and fun for players. They do so by offering flexible withdrawal and deposit options to the latter. Although credit cards are a commonly used payment option in the UK, in April 2020, UK Gambling Commission declared them unsafe for the players. A countrywide ban has been placed on gambling platforms that allow players to deposit/withdraw funds using their credit cards, as the concerned money is considered ‘borrowed’ and might result in unsafe gambling habits later.
As per the Chief Executive of the UKGC, 22% of UK online gamblers who use credit cards belong to the problem gamblers’ category. After this ban, e-Wallets have emerged as the go-to payment/withdrawal option amongst UK players.
Rise of the Cryptocurrency
Everyone has been predicting a bright future for cryptocurrency all along. The recent trends also reveal the growing tendency amongst people to use it as the currency of choice while playing at UK casinos. This type of currency also serves as the ideal means to wager and claim money in an anonymous and safe manner.
Although cryptocurrencies were a big hit even before the ban on credit cards came into effect, it can’t be denied that they have significantly increased in popularity thereafter. Amongst all cryptocurrencies, it is the Bitcoin and Ethereum which are preferred by most players. What further increases the appeal of cryptocurrencies is their easy accessibility through mobile devices. After all who doesn’t love placing a punt or two, or indulging in a bit of online casino gaming on their smart phone?!
Exclusive UK casinos
With UK Gambling Commission placing more and more bans on gambling practices and introducing new regulations, there aren’t many online casinos that are making the cut. To make sure that only the compliant casinos are able to offer their services to the UK players, several platforms have lost their UK licences, or have pulled out operations from the country entirely.
On one hand while this implies that the remaining operators are the safest ones, it has also significantly brought down the choices available to the UK players. Although this might seem like the ideal outcome for the UKGC, it does raise an important question: Could this lead to UK players trying out illegal gambling options?
