Australia has banned the use of credit cards for online gambling. Now, players cannot use credit cards as a payment method.
Late last year, the Australian Parliament passed legislation. They amended the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Now, online gambling is brought in line with land-based gambling, and the use of credit cards is prohibited.
The ban is in force after a six-month transition period. Companies must comply with this regulation. It bans credit cards, credit-related products, and digital currencies for gambling. Non-compliance can result in fines up to A$234,750.
The new laws are in place. They've expanded the powers of the Australian Communications and Media Authority. This ensures enforcement of new and existing civil penalty provisions.
"Australians should not be gambling with money they do not have. Last year, the Albanese Labor Government committed to banning credit cards for online wagering – and we’ve delivered.
This ban builds on the significant progress to minimise gambling harm that the Albanese Government has made over the past two years, which is already benefitting thousands of vulnerable Australians.
Our commitment to ensuring that gambling takes place within a robust legislative framework with strong consumer protections remains steadfast, and we will have more to announce in due course."
- Michelle Rowland, communications Minister
Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA) supports the measure. Its members include bet365, Betfair, Entain, Sportsbet, Pointsbet, and Unibet. However, they believe a credit card ban should also cover lotteries and keno.
The independent peak body for Australian-licensed wagering service providers made an addition. They've been working with the government and the financial services industry since 2021. The purpose was to implement the ban.
“This is an important measure to protect customers, making it easier for people to stay in control of their own gambling behaviour.
It will complement the existing offering of safer gambling account management tools by RWA members. RWA and its members support the extension of this measure to all forms of gambling that have been exempted from the ban such as lotteries and keno.
If consumer protection measures aren’t consistent across all forms of gambling it will incentivise vulnerable Australians to move to less-regulated types of gambling, where they are more at risk of harm.”
- Kai Cantwell, CEO of RWA