PA Proposal: Outlaw Credit Card Use For Onling Gambling

HARRISBURG, PA —A Pennsylvania state senator is proposing legislation that would ban the use of credit cards for the iLottery, online casino games, sports betting and fantasy sports.

Sen. Wayne Fontana, whose district includes portions of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, plans to introduce a bill that would restrict credit card use for those gambling purposes.

"With the average Pennsylvanian having a credit card balance that exceeds $5,640, online gaming should not be another scenario to accumulate more debt," he wrote in a recent memo to colleagues seeking support for the coming bill.

According to Fontana, more than 36 percent of online gaming participants in the state reported at least one gambling problem according to the 2022 Online Gaming Report produced by Pennsylvania State University in coordination with the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs as well as the state’s Gaming Control Board.

"Gambling and credit card debt often go hand-in-hand since this disorder can lead to financial problems that affect one’s ability to pay off debt," Fontana wrote in the memo.

States that have already outlawed credit card use for online gambling include Iowa, Tennessee and Massachusetts.