Australians will no longer be allowed to use their credit cards to place bets online as federal regulators move to tighten industry rules to stamp out harms caused by gambling. Source: News.com.au.
Under new laws that came into effect yesterday, the use of credit cards, including ones linked to digital wallets as well as digital currencies such as Bitcoin, will be outlawed for online wagering.
Companies face fines of up to $234,750 if they fail to comply.
The online gambling industry was given six months to adjust to the transition.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the changes would help to protect vulnerable Australians and said the Government would announce further reforms in due course.
“Australians should not be gambling with money they do not have,” Ms Rowland said.
She said the ban “builds on the significant progress to minimise gambling harm that the Albanese Government has made over the past two years, which is already benefiting thousands of vulnerable Australians.”
Australians lose about $25 billion to legal forms of gambling each year, representing the largest per capita losses in the world, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The credit card ban follows recommendations put forward by a parliamentary inquiry that called for a total phase out of gambling ads over the next three years.
About two in five adult Australians gamble at least weekly, with nearly half of Australian men spending money on gambling activities in a typical month.
FULL STORY
Blanket ban on credit card gambling kicks in as government flags industry crackdown (By Eleanor Campbell, News.com.au)