Australia banned the use of credit cards, credit-related products, and cryptocurrency for online wagering on 11 June 2024 under the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Act 2023. Nearly two years on, the first independent economic study of the ban's impact has found measurable changes in betting behaviour, though not always for the reasons the government anticipated.
Research by the e61 Institute, conducted by economists Aditya Maitra and Matthew Maltman using anonymised bank transaction data, found that average spending among the most affected bettors fell by AU$50 per two-week window following the ban. The likelihood of placing a bet at all dropped by 15%, and approximately one-third of affected bettors stopped betting entirely during the six-week observation period.
Friction, Not Credit Restriction, Drove the Change
The study's key finding is that the decline was driven primarily by friction: the inconvenience of updating payment methods, rather than a restriction on access to credit. Heavy gamblers, who tend to maintain sufficient debit account liquidity, were largely unaffected. The implication is that the ban was most effective at reducing betting among people who were using credit cards as a matter of habit or convenience, not those in the most severe financial difficulty from gambling.
ACMA's own 2024-25 compliance report found a very high level of compliance among licensed operators, with no investigations required since the ban commenced. By June 2025, all 50 licensed operators who still mentioned credit or crypto in their terms and conditions had removed those references. The Department of Infrastructure has scheduled a statutory two-year review of the ban's effectiveness for after June 2026.
PayID Becomes the Default
The payment method that replaced credit cards for most punters is PayID, now accepted by the majority of Australia's licensed bookmakers including bet365, Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, Betr, Picklebet, Palmerbet, BetRight, and others. PayID uses the New Payments Platform, which launched in 2018 and is supported by approximately 40 Australian banks via the Osko quick-payment layer.
bet365 is currently the only major bookmaker offering PayID for both deposits and withdrawals. Most other operators support PayID deposits only, with withdrawals processed via standard bank transfer. Minimum PayID deposits vary by operator: Betr and Dabble accept from AU$5, while bet365, Picklebet, and PlayUp start at AU$10. No operator charges a fee for PayID transactions.
What This Means for Punters
If you haven't updated your payment method since the June 2024 ban, now is a good time to set up PayID. It's the fastest deposit option at most bookmakers, settling in seconds around the clock, with no transaction fees. The ban's two-year review is scheduled for after June 2026, so the regulatory settings aren't likely to change before then. Debit cards and PayID are the stable long-term options for funding a betting account in Australia.