95.3 / 88.5 FM Grand Rapids and 95.3 FM Muskegon
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Online sports betting impacting Michigan credit unions

Patty Corkery, President/CEO, Michigan Credit Union League photo
Rick Weaver
/
Michigan Credit Union League

In January, online gambling and sports betting launched in Michigan. In February, the state’s Problem Gambling Hotline received five times the number of callers seeking addiction help than it did the previous year. Michigan Credit Unions are also being negatively impacted by online gaming.

Most debit cards offer a courtesy pay, a mini loan should the card holder spend beyond their limit so that it’s not declined.

“And then you have to pay that money back and people aren’t doing it. So, then the financial institution, no matter who it is, would have to write that off as a loss.”

Patty Corkery is Michigan Credit Union League President and CEO. We asked what financial institutions are doing to protect themselves?

“Well, right now from what I’m hearing, a lot of our credit unions are really just monitoring this big time. They’re keeping an eye on it. I talked to a credit union the other day that they had in a two-month period, they had $5.8 million in gambling transactions at their institution.”

One Michigan credit union is denying its members credit and debit cards access to online gambling websites. It’s reminding members they’re a part of a financial cooperative. When the credit union incurs a loss, all members incur a loss.

Corkery says there’s been an increase in the number of credit and debit card disputes involving sports betting websites.

Patrick joined WGVU Public Media in December, 2008 after eight years of investigative reporting at Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV8 and three years at WYTV News Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. As News and Public Affairs Director, Patrick manages our daily radio news operation and public interest television programming. An award-winning reporter, Patrick has won multiple Michigan Associated Press Best Reporter/Anchor awards and is a three-time Academy of Television Arts & Sciences EMMY Award winner with 14 nominations.