The Australian Senate accepted a invoice this week banning the usage of bank cards for on-line playing all through the nation. Representatives within the Australian Congress have already accepted the invoice, insuring the invoice’s progress into nationwide legislation inside months.

Below the phrases of the Interactive Playing Modification (Credit score and Different Measures) Invoice 2023, operators can be barred from accepting each bank cards and cryptocurrency at on-line casinos. Australia already has a ban on the usage of bank cards at land-based casinos, thus the invoice cements an entire ban on bank card playing all through the nation.

The authors of the invoice consulted with a variety of stakeholders, together with anti-gambling advocates and playing operators to craft the laws. That’s possible why the invoice accommodates a six-month transition interval for operators to implement the brand new coverage.

Nevertheless it seems that not each type of playing shall be impacted by the credit score ban; particularly keno and lotteries. This exception didn’t sit effectively with Accountable Wagering Australia CEO Kai Cantwell, who advocated for a full ban. “The most recent Australian Playing Statistics present that Australians misplaced most than $3.20bn on lotteries and keno in 2020-21,” Cantwell stated. “With the introduction of on-line keno in Victoria, keno losses elevated greater than 400% from 2021-22 to 2022-23.

“Lotteries had been additionally exempt from the Nationwide Self Exclusion Register, Betstop, that means that Australians who’ve self-excluded from on-line playing will not be precluded from playing as much as $10,000 on-line at a time by means of lotteries,” he stated in feedback reported on by iGaming Enterprise.

Cantwell says his group will proceed advocating for a complete credit score ban, even after the brand new legislation is carried out.