Bipartisan Pennsylvania bills would cap deposits, ban credit cards for online gambling, and tighten self-exclusion marketing rules

Two Pennsylvania House representatives are preparing a package of bills that would add deposit limits, restrict gambling marketing, and ban credit card funding for online casino and sports betting accounts. For PSPs and operators, the practical point is simple: Pennsylvania is moving further toward account-level friction, and the state’s compliance surface is getting narrower.

1. Democrat Tarik Khan of Philadelphia and Republican Jamie Flick, who represents Lycoming and Union counties, plan to introduce the measures as a response to problem gambling. They framed gambling addiction as a public health challenge at a time when online wagering keeps expanding in Pennsylvania, one of the largest regulated online gambling jurisdictions in the US.
2. The first proposal, the Pennsylvania Online Consumer Protection Act, would limit how many deposits players can make to gambling accounts within a 24-hour period. It would also restrict marketing tactics such as push notifications and text messages that prompt users to place bets, while tightening advertising rules aimed at young audiences. The bill would also direct additional funding to prevention, education, treatment, and responsible gaming programmes.
3. A second measure would ban credit card deposits for online gambling. The House bill would mirror Senate Bill 265 and is meant to reduce gambling-related debt. The lawmakers noted that credit card deposits are already being disallowed voluntarily by major operators including DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars, but the proposal would make that rule statutory rather than optional.
4. The third bill would strengthen Pennsylvania’s self-exclusion programme and serve as the House companion to Senate Bill 266. Licensed operators would be prohibited from sending promotions, bonuses, or advertisements to people registered on the state’s self-exclusion database, and they would have to remove those individuals from all marketing lists.
5. Under current rules, self-excluded players cannot collect winnings and may face penalties if they attempt to gamble. The new package would add a clearer operator obligation on top of that framework, which matters for any PSP or processor touching Pennsylvania gaming flows: more controls at onboarding, more controls in marketing, and no credit card acceptance for online gambling accounts if the bills advance.