As much as we all love online gambling, it cannot be denied that problem gambling is a very serious issue.
Stories of problem gambling are, unfortunately, commonplace, and many health officials are deeply concerned about the increasing numbers of those with very serious gambling addictions.
As we all know, the PayPal casino is ubiquitous in the online gambling market, and many of us love the ease of using this trailblazing electronic payment service.
However, we don’t think PayPal’s value stops there. We believe that if PayPal is used in the right way it can be help curb problem gambling and overspending. In this article, we will explain why.
UK Problem Gambling – The Figures
- UK problem gambling on the rise according to the Gambling Commission and NHS figures
- Problem gambling can lead to serious harm on many levels
- Political figures such as Tom Watson and Tracey Crouch have called for more action to be taken on the issue
The numbers and statistics of problem gambling make for some grim reading. The Gambling Commission has stated that there are 430,000 problem gamblers in the UK and 2 million are currently ‘at risk’.
The National Gambling Helpline says that it took 29,889 calls in 2017-18, a significant increase from 22,875 in 2013-14.
The Daily Telegraph recently revealed that NHS figures show that a record number of gambling addicts were hospitalised last year.
More than 100 people were admitted due to severe pathological gambling addiction which required hospital treatment – that was a 50% increase on last year.
The effects of serious gambling problems can be disastrous both for the individual and their families. Problem gambling can lead to higher levels of physical and mental illness, significant debt issues, relationship problems, criminality and worse.
Evidently, problem gambling is an increasing problem and, in our opinion, as an industry and society, we need to tackle the problem more forthrightly.
Problem Gambling – How PayPal Can Help
PayPal might not be the first thing which springs to mind when you consider problem gambling, but we think that if it is utilised in the right way, it can certainly aid problem gamblers.
PayPal can be a great tool not only for problem gamblers, but for those who would like to impose sensible limits on their gambling spending.
Problems With Bank Accounts and Problem Gambling
If a gambler uses their bank account to fund their gambling they have all their account balance and overdrafts to play with. Ultimately, gamblers have access to a big chunk of money which is not exactly ideal for problem gamblers.
Simply put, if players have access to more money, this makes problem gambling and overspending more likely.
PayPal Without a Linked Bank Account
We can all agree that whilst PayPal is definitely a payment service, it certainly isn’t a bank account. Indeed, PayPal can be used in an altogether different way.
So, the trick is to sign-up for a PayPal account without linking a bank account or credit/debit card to the account. That way, PayPal purchases can only be funded through your actual PayPal balance.
This type of account will still allow you to receive money and payments from other PayPal users, but your PayPal spending will be limited to what is actually in your PayPal account.
So, players could ask a friend or relative to send money to their PayPal account. Players could then use this money to deposit at their casino of choice.
Of course, we are not suggesting that gamblers don’t immediately pay the money back to their helpful friend after the money has hit their PayPal account; This is an essential ingredient to the recipe!
This approach to casino depositing allows you to use your PayPal account as a casino depositing voucher system of sorts, where you can only deposit the money which is sitting in your PayPal balance, and no more.
This little trick allows gamblers to think twice about how much they can realistically afford to spend at a casino, rather than mindlessly adding to their casino bank balance with a swift click of a button.
And, let’s be honest, most of us would probably not want to ask for hundreds, or even thousands of pounds from our friends and relatives to fund our gambling in one chunk.
So, not only will casino spending be limited to what is in your PayPal bank balance, it will also make you think twice about how much you spend at the casino in the first place.
What this all amounts to is responsible, sensible and safe gambling, and that is what we should all be striving for.
UK Problem Gambling Going Forward
There are no easy solutions to problem gambling, and it appears that more needs to be done on many levels to tackle this growing problem.
There will almost certainly be changes at some level within the online gambling industry to help tackle the issue, with more and more worrying stories and trends circulating in the media.
Inventive ideas and approaches can help steer players away from the very slippery road of gambling addiction.
We think that if PayPal, or any other service for that matter is used in a creative way, overspending can be curbed, and players can control their gambling in a more structured and concrete manner. We believe that such approaches could be especially helpful for gamblers who are ‘at risk’.
Do you have any ideas of how problem gambling can be tackled or anything you would like to share? Just comment in the box below to start the conversation.
