Benefits of Cashless Gambling Cards in Australia

By now, you have heard about the recent report on Crown Resorts. The report states that the company is not suitable for a casino license. During this report, there was a recommendation that NSW goes forward with a cashless gambling card system.

The cards have created a ton of controversy, with some outright opposing it. Today, we are going to tell you what these cards are and some reasons why they are a good idea.

What is a Cashless Gambling Card?

Cashless gambling cards are effectively prepaid cards that punters would use to play pokies in NSW or other casino venues in Australia. The card would be connected to a person’s identity and a player can load it with cash to use on pokies.

The card can serve both as a way to identify players and a way to track spending by the player. Pokies would be required to take these cards and players would not be able to use cash or other forms of currency to play.

So what are some of the benefits of using these cards? Let’s take a look.

Curbing Problem Gambling

While there are many steps that are being taken to help control problem gambling in Australia, it is still up to both the player and the casino or venue to stop players. A cashless gambling card would help to stop a lot of problem gambling. That’s because the card is tied to a player’s identity.

If a player has put themselves on the exclusion list in Australia, this would flag the player. If they go to load a cashless card, they would not be able to do so. Furthermore, let’s assume that the player joins the exclusion list after getting a card. The network would prevent the holder of the card from playing pokies using the card. It is an extra safeguard put in place to protect problem gamblers.

Players Can Track Their Play

Another benefit of these cards is that players can track how much they spend in a month. Since the amount is preset and tracked, a player always knows how much they have deposited and spent. Odds are that players can impose limits on how much they can deposit or spend each month. This helps players to budget their play and could help prevent them from becoming problem gamblers.

Safeguard Against Money Laundering

One extra benefit of these cards is that they can help to prevent money laundering. In the past, criminals could take money into a casino, play a bit, and cash out with most or all of the money. If questioned on how they got the money, they can claim a big win at pokies.

With these cards, players can be tracked and the casino limit enforced. You can’t go throwing around thousands at a time at various pokies venues to launder money. Criminals will be limited to what’s on the card, and they will only be able to hold one card at a time. This all but eliminated most money laundering activities.

Benefits Outweigh Risks

Are there concerns over these gambling cards? Sure. There is always a chance of a data breach, which exposes player information to criminals. Next, pokie venues and casinos will incur additional expenses when transitioning to these cards. Then there is the upkeep for the cards.

However, the extra expenses for casinos can be considered a cost of doing business and a safeguard against future litigation or fines. For players, the benefits of these cards can outweigh the potential risk of a data breach. Data breaches are rare, despite what the media makes you believe. While cashless gambling cards are not perfect, they are a vast improvement over the way things are presently done and a way to help protect players.