Credit-Card Gambling Ban Fails to Shift the Core Problem, Research Suggests

Australia’s decision to block credit-card payments for online gambling has changed how some people bet, but new analysis shows the reform barely touched the behaviours that cause the most harm. Instead, it disrupted a narrow group of casual users and left the country’s heaviest gamblers wagering almost exactly as before.

The latest report from the e61 Institute uses anonymised banking data to track how customers behaved before and after the June 2024 credit card ban. While the policy was introduced as a safeguard against gambling with borrowed funds, the research indicates that the key drivers of Australia’s gambling losses lie elsewhere, and remain almost entirely untouched.

Credit-Card Use Was Already a Rarity

One of the clearest findings of the research is that the ban targeted a method most gamblers had already abandoned. By early 2024, only about two per cent of credit-card accounts showed any gambling transactions.

The decline wasn’t caused by regulation, but by cost. Credit-card wagers had long been treated as cash advances, attracting steep interest charges and additional fees. Most bettors, particularly regular ones, were already using debit cards, bank transfers or cryptocurrency.

The study also challenges assumptions about who uses credit cards to gamble. Those who did use a card tended to have more savings and higher incomes than the average bettor, suggesting they weren’t driven by financial desperation or a lack of liquidity.

Behaviour Shifted Mostly Among Casual Gamblers

Although credit cards played a minor role, the ban did cause a noticeable short-term dip in online betting. Average spending among affected users fell by around A$50 per fortnight, and about one-third of those who had previously used credit stopped gambling during the six-week post-ban period.

But according to the researchers, this shift had little to do with restricting access to borrowed funds. Instead, the policy created small practical hurdles: updating payment details, re-verifying accounts and choosing new deposit methods.

These steps proved disruptive for people who bet occasionally or placed low-value wagers. For them, the extra effort was enough to break the habit. More committed gamblers simply switched to debit or transaction accounts and continued as normal.

No Evidence of Meaningful Financial Relief

The study found no clear signs that the ban delivered any significant improvements to personal finances. Savings did not rise, debt levels did not fall, and day-to-day liquidity remained unchanged among those affected.

The explanation is straightforward: the ban did not limit the amount of money gamblers had available, only the specific tool they could use. People determined to gamble with borrowed funds could still withdraw a cash advance, use a digital wallet funded by credit or take out a personal loan. Most didn’t rely on those options because they already had their own funds available.

A Policy That Changed Access, Not Risk

For policymakers, the findings underline a difficult reality, the parts of the gambling sector linked most heavily to harm are not necessarily the ones easiest to regulate.

The credit-card ban influenced behaviour, but only at the fringes. The study highlights that pokie machines remain the dominant source of gambling harm in Australia, yet the ban did nothing to prevent credit from flowing indirectly into pokies venues or online pokie sites.

The disconnect between what is regulated and where harm occurs is becoming harder to ignore. With Australia consistently recording the highest per-capita gambling losses globally, the report suggests that incremental measures may not be enough to shift national outcomes.

Other Consumer-Protection Tools Still Underused

The findings also draw attention to gaps in Australia’s broader harm-reduction framework. BetStop, the national self-exclusion register, has captured only a fraction of the estimated 400,000 high-risk gamblers. Meanwhile, some wagering operators have been fined for failing to meet basic consumer-protection requirements, including distributing mandatory monthly activity statements.

These shortcomings raise questions about whether reforms are being enforced strongly enough to make a measurable difference.

Where the Gambling Reform Leaves Australia

While the credit-card ban succeeded in physically blocking a payment method, its practical effect on gambling harm appears limited. The policy removed a tool many bettors had already chosen not to use and unintentionally encouraged low-frequency gamblers to bow out due to inconvenience. But it left the highest-risk behaviours largely untouched.

As the Albanese government considers further restrictions,  including potential limits on gambling advertising,  the e61 Institute’s findings make one message clear: lasting change will depend on targeting the products responsible for the greatest harm, not just the parts of the system where regulation is politically straightforward.