Card clampdown on gamblers

CREDIT card companies are clamping down on customers that use their cards to bet on online gambling sites.

A number of card issuers are changing their terms and conditions so that money placed in an online betting account from a credit card will be treated as cash advance and incur a higher rate of interest.

They will also be charged a 2% handling fee for cash advances, which starts at £2.

The interest charged on cash advances is usually much higher than normal card purchases. For example, Mint charges 14.9% APR on a normal card purchase, but 17.9% for cash advances.

Online gambling has proliferated over the past three years and many gambling sites are challenging the traditional High Street bookies. Punters enjoy the ease and anonymity of betting at home, and online sites also typically offer better odds.

Royal Bank of Scotland is introducing the change from May 1 for its 11m customers. A spokeswoman said: 'The gambling transactions are to be treated as advances as this is felt to be a more accurate means of reflecting that a gambling transaction is effectively a cash equivalent exchange.'

Egg, which has 3m customers, will introduce its own change from April 1. Spokesman Mark Maguire said: 'Essentially, using your card for gambling is quasi cash and we are changing our rules to reflect that. Basically, you are using your card to buy currency.'

A spokesman for PartyGaming, one of the largest online gambling sites on the web, said that very few of its customers are using credit cards to pay for their bets.

He said: 'There are 23 different ways to load your account. Most of our customers use 'e-wallet' services, such as those provided by Neteller or FireOne.'

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