Australian Senate committee says credit cards for online gambling should remain

Australia’s Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, tasked with reviewing a proposed amendment to the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Prohibition on Credit Card Use) Bill of 2020, has recommended it be scrapped. The Bill, introduced last year, sought to make it a criminal offence for an organisation to accept credit card payments for interactive gambling services, which covers all gambling that takes place online. In Australia, online gambling activities are not regulated in the same way as physical gambling locations such as casinos, licensed venues and others, as credit card use is permitted when gambling online. The committee’s report assessing the Bill said that unintended consequences of this Bill cold include consumers potentially seeking out other payment mechanisms, some consumers placing more focus onto unregulated offshore wagering and increased use of third-party payment mechanisms for gambling. It added that there is an existing framework for preventing harmful use of credit cards as individuals applying for credit cards are subject to consumer credit and background checks to assess their suitability for particular products. The committee said the onus for credit card regulation, when it comes to online gambling, should be on financial institutions.