Illinois Attempting to Ban Credit Cards to Fund Sports Betting

• The Illinois Gaming Board adopted new rules to prohibit credit cards
• Six states currently prohibit the use of credit cards to fund sports betting
• The ban needs to be approved by the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules

After five years of legalized Illinois sports betting, it’s time for some changes.

The Illinois Gaming Board is setting its sights on a credit card ban to disallow customers to fund sports betting accounts. The Illinois Gaming Board last week approved the measure, which now heads to the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) for public comment.

When Illinois legalized sports betting in 2025, only 13 other states offered legal sports betting and none featured a prohibition on credit cards.

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Justified Prohibition on Credit Cards?

The Illinois Gaming Board currently has a prohibition on credit cards for casino and video gaming bets. As it stands, six other states – Massachusetts, Iowa, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire – currently have a ban on credit cards for sports betting.

“As part of our review, we determined that prohibiting the use of credit cards to fund sports wagering accounts is a justified and impactful advancement in Illinois sports wagering,” said Illinois Gaming Board Administrator Marcus D. Fruchter in a press release. “There is a growing body of recent research showing that restrictions on credit usage to fund wagering accounts encourages responsible gambling and mitigates the harms of compulsive gambling. Problem gamblers are particularly at risk and studies have shown an often-problematic willingness for compulsive gamblers to use credit cards to place bets.”

The new prohibition will now be sent to the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for the public to comment. After public comment, the approval process will commence.

Additionally, the gaming board adopted a new rule that will permit cashless wagering in all 17 state casinos, allowing customers to use a digital casino account or wallet to bet, withdraw electronic credits, fund wages, and cashout remaining credits. This would not include the use of credit cards.

NCLGS Recommends Credit Card Ban

The Illinois Gaming Board is following the recommendation of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), which proposed a complete credit card funding ban for any state with legalized sports betting.

The NCLGS proposed its “Model Internet Gaming Act” in November 2024, which suggests licensed operators permit customers to make deposits through online and mobile payment systems that support online money transfers, debit cards, digital wallets such as PayPal, Venmo, and other similar services, bank wires, cash, and prepaid cards.

However, the NCLGS does not recommend the use of credit cards for sports betting in any form.