Australia’s Macquarie Bank Bans Credit Cards for Gambling

Australia’s Macquarie bank has banned the gambling and lottery transactions on its credit cards.

The bank reached this decision after growing regulatory concerns in Australia and overseas in regards to easy access to credit by problem gamblers. All transactions that involve gambling companies will be blocked when the cardholder tries to pay.

Credit cards that allow gambling transactions are usually within the cash advances category. Macquarie said that the ban will be hard to enforce if merchants provide gambling services but their primary category is under another code.

An explanation to card owners from the bank said that there will be other instances where Macquarie will be unable to block the authorisation of gambling or lottery-related transactions. “You’ll continue to be responsible for these, and all charges on your card.”