The Swedish Ministry of Finance has proposed a more comprehensive ban on gambling with credit, including a credit card ban, drawing criticism from the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS).
The memorandum sent by the ministry on February 24 also reiterates that Swedish licensees are subject to a duty of care, meaning they must have an action plan to discourage excessive gambling.
The proposal will allow the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) to set the requirements for such an action plan, by introducing amendments.
Rules around duty of care will come into force on September 1, 2024. The credit card ban will enter into force on April 1, 2024.
Niklas Wykman, the minister of financial markets, said: “Gambling for money on credit can lead to great financial difficulties. Therefore, we are now stopping that possibility. It is not reasonable for gambling companies or gambling agents to contribute to individuals taking such large risks.”
Sweden’s Gambling Act already bans gambling firms from providing credit to stake bets.
Under the proposed rules, gambling companies will not be able to receive any payments financed by credit “regardless of how and when the credit has been provided. It includes, among other things, that bets for money may not be paid with credit cards,” according to the announcement from the ministry.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary general of BOS, said it is “sad that the government does not listen to its own expertise and instead proposes a ban on credit cards when gambling, contrary to what the government investigation has concluded”.
In July 2023, the investigation proposed several changes in a report handed to Erik Slottner, the minister of civil affairs, including implementing a new system for people in debt and credit registers to improve existing conditions for credit checks, which the SGA and trade groups support.
The report advised against a credit card ban.
However, the SGA urged the inquiry to “reconsider” its stance on not banning credit cards from gambling.
Hoffstedt said the new proposal “is handing yet another competitive advantage to the unlicensed gambling market, which has a 41 percent market share when it comes to online casinos”.
“The risk is great that unlicensed gambling will overtake and gain a larger total market share than licensed gambling in 2024. The government needs to change focus and show that it is on the same side as the licensed gambling companies and the safeguarding of consumers,” he said.