Online Gambling May Lead to Irish Banks Refusing Loan Applications

Apparently Irish banks are now using online gambling as an excuse to refuse anyone who applies for a mortgage. The latest report suggests that the fact whether a person is gambling online or not is taken into consideration when approving loan applications. Excessive drinking of alcohol is not one of the deciding factors for loan approval.

Other important factors examined are digital TV subscriptions, tuition fees and mobile phone bills. Naturally, banks set these guidelines themselves, as Irish gambling laws say nothing about the connection of gaming to one’s ability to apply for a loan.

Trevor Grant, CEO of the mortgage advisory company Negotiate, claims that gaming transactions are widely used as a reason to decline or restructure mortgage application. He has alleged that all information pertaining to additional financial assets of the applicant is often disregarded.

Grant told online gambling news in Ireland: "When a lender assesses an application for reduced mortgage repayments due to financial difficulty, the customer is required to submit a detailed application, often including current account and credit-card statements."

He went on to add: "Lenders will form a view that if the customer is struggling to pay their mortgage they should be tightening their belts, and they consider gambling, for example, as a non-essential activity and therefore should be one of the first social indulgences to be cut."

These revelations could spark a number of protests, as some professional poker players, spending time at online poker sites in Ireland, derive most of their income from online gambling. And the fact that they would be considered less worthy of a loan is very unconstitutional indeed.

Irish Banking Federation spokesman suggested that all borrowers looking to restructure their mortgage or new applicants should carefully examine their income and spending, before applying for a loan. It remains to be seen how Irish online players react to these findings.