ClubNSW’s comments on cashless gaming card reform ‘absurd’

Richard Holden, a University of NSW economist, recently labeled ClubsNSW’s comments on the effects of cashless gaming on punters “absurd.” Premier Dominic Perrottet unveiled the cashless gaming card reform to aid in tackling problem gambling, and money laundering after an October report by the NSW Crime Commission recommended the move.

Several parties, including ClubsNSW, which promised to fight the proposal ahead of the March state election, have opposed the cashless gaming card reform.

George Peponis, the chief of ClubsNSW, has claimed that if Premier Dominic Perrottet’s cashless gaming card reform is implemented, it could escalate the problem by directing gamblers to participate in unregulated online casinos.

“We are not convinced that an untested mandatory cashless card is the way to go,” Peponis stated.

“The international experience demonstrates that forcing players to use cards drives recreational players to other forms of gambling, in particular to unregulated online casinos, and can exacerbate problem gambling.”

He also explained that while the clubs’ industry was not against cashless payments, the introduction of a mandatory gaming card was opposed. This, according to Peponis, was because no evidence was provided that the reform could adequately tackle the problems associated with gambling rather than have a negative effect on gamblers.

“We know that society is moving towards a cashless economy, which is why we already have a digital wallet trial underway. It’s our belief that people should have the ability to pay for play on a poker machine using cash or digital technology – just as they have options when it comes to paying for everything else.”

The lobbyist group chief further stated that Perrottet’s mandatory cashless gaming card proposal would take away the choice of how the punters’ money was spent and in doing so, “punish” them.

While calling Pepnois’ comments on the matter “absurd,” Holden explained that in the overall transactions carried out in Australia, the use of cash was by many accounts below 10%.

“The trend is the global trend which is cash has disappeared to a great degree from our lives and continues to do so,” Holden asserted.

Sally Gainsbury, a University of Sydney professor, revealed that punters that require cash to use the poker machines would likely undergo an adjustment period before fully acclimatizing to a cashless system.

“The argument that people wouldn’t play if there was no cash hasn’t ever been tested. There is no evidence to suggest that’s the case,” Gainsbury said.

“It is like a muscle memory thing. People are used to playing cash, so there would be an adjustment period. But just in the same way that people have migrated from the physical TABs to online, it is highly likely that with the right setup, people could easily migrate over to a cashless system, particularly if it was mandatory.”

The professor, who is a gambling psychology research specialist, also noted that while untested, the move of consumer activity in other areas to cashless transactions would likely allow just punters to adapt to the mandatory reform.

“There is a lot of evidence that customers are moving towards cashless ways of paying for almost every other activity,” Gainsbury said.

“It would be surprising if there was something so unique about poker machines that consumers wouldn’t transition.”

Ellen Garbarino, University of Sydney business school professor of marketing, further explained that a majority of people used electronic payment methods rather than cash when paying for small ticket items. She stated that ClubNSW’s statement about the potential difficulty of the cashless gaming card in the economy was “probably wrong.”

“They could quite easily operate in a cashless economy just as most businesses do, but they probably don’t want to,” Garbarino said.

“Companies in general that operate with a lot of cash in their system are often less strict in their accounting than they ought to be and operate in the grey market.”

Another concern ClubNSW raised was that the implementation of the cashless gaming card would allow government bureaucrats to keep an eye on the spending and gambling transactions of punters.

“There has been no thought about who will have access to the data and for what purposes. Recent data hacks show that there are significant privacy risks when large amounts of data are held in a central location,” the lobbyist club stated.

The cashless gaming card will reportedly require punters to make an ID that would link to a bank account for their gambling activities. Garbarino explained that although the clubs are concerned about the government’s scrutiny, gamblers will now be able to see the amounts spent on the activity on their bank statements which was less noticeable when they spent cash.

Thomas Swanton, a University of Sydney Ph.D. student, also shared his opinion on the matter and presented some findings from his research paper on the impacts of various payment methods on gambling. His conclusions offered were on the view of the consumer on cashless gambling.

The research revealed that although gamblers were concerned about their inability to control their spending while using these gambling cards, there were set limits on the amount of money that could be spent. If they spend more than the stated sum, gamblers receive push notifications in addition to self-exclusion systems.

A participant in the study who uses the gambling machines called the reform “a step in the right direction if it’s linked into a self-exclusion scheme,” which limits the money that the card can gain access to.

The study participant said, “For me, it’s a massive advantage over cash because cash is unlimited … and it should be linked to your identity.”

A second participant added, “Having a card helps facilitate that transparency on how much I’ve actually put into a machine because, in the past, I wouldn’t have a clue.”

Per the research, in order to effectively keep people from using cash after exceeding their card limit, the cashless system needed to be made mandatory. A number of study participants, however, shared concerns about the freedom of choice and privacy if the new cashless gambling methods were implemented.

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