Major online sportsbooks and casino operators are moving away from credit card deposits, reflecting a shift in how the industry approaches consumer protection. Other payment methods remain available, but credit card funding is receding as regulators, lawmakers, and operators weigh its effects.
Recently, another online casino was added to the list of operators who would not let customers use credit cards to fund their accounts. This change shows just how much the conversation around online gambling has shifted lately, with more focus on financial risks and how payment choices can influence gambling behaviour. Operators are weighing the business challenges that come with credit card transactions, too.
Hard Rock Bet Casino Joins Operators Removing Credit Card Deposits
Sportsline reports Hard Rock Bet Casino has stopped taking credit cards for deposits. The online casino, operating in states like Michigan and New Jersey, still lets customers use debit cards and PayPal. Hard Rock Bet Casino no longer appears on lists of credit card casinos, including on third-party apps. Customers still have alternative payment routes, but the removal of credit cards marks another change in how online casinos manage deposits.
Hard Rock Bet Casino is not alone. Action Network reported that other major names in online gambling, like DraftKings and FanDuel, are also phasing out credit cards. The report says these moves are driven by regulatory and consumer protection reasons. This shift comes as regulators and lawmakers in different jurisdictions pay more attention to how gambling accounts get funded. Payment methods drew little scrutiny during the early legal sports betting boom. They have since become central as concerns about gambling-related harm have grown.
Why Regulators and Operators Are Backing the Shift
Ice Miller legal services says the industry has seen a big shift in regulatory focus in the past couple of years.
The firm says regulators and lawmakers across several jurisdictions have moved to prohibit credit card funding of wagering accounts over the past two years, citing “compulsive gambling, consumer debt, and financial harm.”
Ice Miller adds that after the Supreme Court’s 2018 Murphy v. NCAA decision, many states concentrated mostly on licensing operators and collecting taxes. Back then, payment methods got little attention. Now, according to Ice Miller, that has changed, with regulators scrutinizing how bettors fund their accounts. The firm says concerns have grown because credit cards let people gamble with revolving debt instead of money they actually own.
Consumer advocates and public health experts are raising their own concerns about credit cards in gambling. Ice Miller says their concern is that credit distances the act of betting from its financial consequences, making it easier to continue without feeling the loss. The pressure is not only regulatory. Operators face practical costs too.
Action Network says credit card transactions bring extra risks. Disputes are harder for operators to win, and chargeback costs and processing fees accumulate. These financial challenges are making businesses and regulators rethink using credit cards for gambling.
Illinois Gaming Board administrator Marcus Fruchter told Covers.com that limiting credit card funding is “a sensible and worthwhile policy” for encouraging responsible gambling.
Fruchter also pointed to the heightened risk for problem gamblers. He said problem gamblers face particular risk, and that studies show compulsive gamblers are willing to use credit cards to place bets.
Operators are removing credit cards while retaining debit and PayPal, leaving the question of whether the shift meaningfully reduces harm or simply moves the same spending to a different rail.
