In Australia it is no longer possible to use credit cards for gambling purposes as the new legislation that puts the ban comes into effect after it was first introduced and passed by the government.

Moreover, the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Bill 2023, which was previously introduced in September this year, has gone through several stages of legislative process towards the final policy, which will see the total ban on credit card use for gaming mirroring the actual ban on credit or easy access to loans for gambling in an physical or casino online Australia.

This newly proposed bill effectively prohibiting any connection between credit and gambling products like digital currencies was voted on by the House of Representatives in November and became qualified by the Senate on December 6, 2018. The government has pushed the Bill into law doing its next procedural step, Royal assent. After which, a 6-month period will be in place for all competitors and citizens to learn the new rules and regulations that would become effective for the year 2024.

What are the contents of the bill and its potential effects on the iGaming sector?

The bill in debate has been drafted after thorough consultation with players in the industry, including the Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) which is a renowned group for the Australian licensed betting services, that is for hard stop on credit gambling. RWA has always stressed that gambling should exclusively involve the funds one has, not that one has borrowed.

But still its critics do exist saying that it isn’t clear for the ban to cover different types of gaming modes. As for the credit card use, Keno together with the lottery still continues to be legally approved, which are also marked as the most expensive games in regards to the revenue outcomes reported. The latter development has given rise to requests for an inclusive ban that will include the tobacco industry at large as well.

The law is intended to prohibit credit cards and digital currency funding codes because they tend to be common gambling transaction types and make gambling easier for people. It also spells out the other distinct choices each party must ponder about.

If the operators infringe on this law after the transition by accepting credit card payments, then they could be slapped with hefty fines, which may reach as much as AU$234,750.

Additionally, this bill puts the Australian Communications and Media Authority with different super powers to oversee the implemented regulations by clamping down and imposing fines and penalties.

What prompted the Australian government to implement this prohibition?

It is not new. The ban is kind of something that has been under discussion over time. Admittedly, the law took some time to come into force, and it is actually the case that it has been more than three years since the coming into force of the law that we see today.

In November 2021, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, in its initial reports, made some recommendations regarding the possibility of pursuing a resolution to forbid the use of credit cards for such activities as online gambling. A consultation was held in 2019 as the bankers there considered how to prevent people from being hurt and affected when they used their services.

In the spring of 2020, the urge for the ban even increased when it happened in the UK. First, some of the banks unveiled their bans, although more likely, now everyone will need to.

One of the reasons for the betting competition is the harm of gambling. The research led in 2022 which involved taking people at the age of 18 and above who had gambled already, came up with a finding that 46% of these gambling persons had either already experienced or still experiencing gambling harm to some level of extent. One quarter of all gambling-related harm was associated with relationships—on the other hand—21% of the harm led to health consequences and the other 19% affected one’s mental and psychological well-being. Well, an informed player can protect himself from these dangers but he should keep in mind that the government has made its decisions based on the effectiveness of the ban.

What implications does this have for Australian gambling service providers and gamblers?

The industry becomes a matter of discussion once the ban is set to be in force and people seek answers to reveal its future alternatives. Unlike credit cards people have preferred for a long time, they won’t be limited to this form of payment. They’ll have many other optional and convenient payment methods.

However, a debit could work as a good option for many since the data shows that the number of people who use plastic cards as of September 2023 is 45.6 million. Actually, not everybody would go for debit cards either. For those who are not, other modes of payments like e-wallet and other safe payment methods are there to facilitate this.

However this ban could be good by promoting the requirement for a more secure and responsible gambling industry; together, players could only use what they have on them. This will surround them, limiting the amount that they can spend, therefore, causing people to not carry on being in debt and holding back the possibility of changing for the better.