No more credit card bets! Aussie Govt to block payment methods

September 13, 2023 9:44 am.by Staff Writer

Credit card betting

The government has brought forward legislation to ban Australian betting sites from accepting credit products and digital currencies.

The Australian government is currently considering an early implementation of the ban on the use of credit cards for gambling purposes.

The ban could be implemented as early as late 2023, which would coincide with the first phase of the anti-gambling ad bans.

While several online bookmakers have been supportive of the credit card ban, the ban comes at a time when banking options for depositing and withdrawing at with betting sites is already shrinking.

The popular bookmaker depositing method of using Poli will very soon disappear from betting apps as the company has announced it is closing down its services.

And now the Australian Government has removed yet another option, the credit card.

They are also planning to build in bans against using crypto or digital currencies for depositing or withdrawing.

They want to align themselves with jurisdictions that have already taken steps to tackle the issue of problem gambling.

The government argues that the ban is necessary to protect individuals from the consequences of problem gambling.

According to the Australian Government, research has shown that people who use credit cards for gambling are more susceptible to developing problems related to gambling addiction and accumulating debt.

But that statement ignores the fact that people who use credit cards are naturally predisposed to “accumulating debt” whether they use the credit card for gambling, shopping, meals, or entertainment.

They claim that implementing this ban would help reduce the amount of money lost through gambling activities.

It is estimated that Australians lose $2.4 billion through gambling, although the majority of those losses are through lotto, lotteries, and poker machines.

The original plans to block credit cards were announced earlier this year in April, but the addition of crypto is a new addition.