Push To Ban Credit Cards In Online Gambling
Credit Cards Ban in Australian Online Gambling
Australian senators are about to make a big decision – whether to ban credit cards in online gambling or not. Senators already had a plethora of meetings with financial experts and anti-gambling groups that push authorities to make credit card payments in online casinos illegal.
The growing popularity of online gambling platforms makes experts raise their eyebrows, while the government is proposing the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Prohibition on Credit Car Use) Bill 2020. In case the Bill is adopted, dozens of gambling providers will lose clients who pay via credit cards. The decision would have a huge impact on the virtual casino business in Australia.
The Purpose of the Bill
Why did Australian authorities decide to propose the Bill and put it on the vote? Well, it looks like they decided to follow the example of the United Kingdom, a gambling superpower that already prohibited using credit cards.
According to the supporters of the Bill, this decision would prevent many gamblers from overspending and creating significant debts. The ban has nearly unanimous support from local communities, healthcare authorities, financial counselors, and NGOs.
According to the Alliance for Gambling Reform, the problem of gambling-based debts would decrease drastically should the parliament adopted the Bill. They believe the legislation is quintessential to minimize the number of personal bankrupts caused by digital gambling.
The same tone can be heard from Financial Counselling Australia. Members of this organization claim that COVID-19 only made things worse because the quarantine practically encourages people to start gambling and to waste a lot of money on the go. They emphasized that Spain, the UK, Sweden, and several other countries took prevention measures during the coronavirus pandemic.
For instance, Spain banned advertising for gambling providers, while Sweden set the wagering limit that no gambler can pass. On the other side, Australia did nothing to counter online gambling, and the business started thriving in the post-COVID era.
Supporters of the Bill claim that another reason to give it the green light is preventing impulsive gambling activities. The point is not to stop people from losing money in online casinos but instead to make them stop before it’s too late. Gambling debts have kept mounting over the last couple of years, so it’s becoming critical to identify risky behaviors and prevent them whenever possible.
It’s still unclear what the Australian authorities will do in this case, but the Bill is in the procedure, and it may as well lead to the total ban of credit cards in online gambling.
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