Australian FCA urges for ban on bookmaker credit lines

South Australian Senator Nick Xenephon wants Australia’s financial authorities to ban g credit lines facilities being offered to national consumers.

A new report released on Monday calls for a blanket ban on online betting companies extending credit to gamblers, including accepting credit cards as a form of payment.

The senator supported by the Australian Financial Counselling (FCA) has warned government bodies that its national gambling market is in need of stricter laws and regulations in order to prevent problem gambling.

Presenting a report titled “Duds, Mugs and the A-List”, Xenephon has outlined to the Australian media that the market needs to apply an outright ban on credit services for consumers, combined with tougher laws and regulations concerning marketing of gambling services.

The restrictions would be further supported by the implementation of a national self-exclusion register.

Xenephon has noted that bookmakers can bypass national consumer credit laws, by being registered in Australia’s Northern Territory were laws are laidback on the matter. The Senator seeks a more aligned strategy to gambling regulations, which he stated would better protect Australian consumers.

“Increasing numbers of Australians, mostly young men, are falling prey to the predatory approaches and easy credit of sports betting firms. It is deeply troubling that these firms, many of them owned in the United Kingdom and Ireland, can use unregulated credit to hook young gamblers on betting. It has to stop,” stated Xenephon

Industry business body, Australian Wagering Council (AWC) has stated that the clampdown calls by Xenephon and the Australian FCA are excessive and unnecessary for the regulation of Australian gambling services