ClubsNSW says cashless gambling cards is bad for customer loyalty

The Australian gambling industry is undergoing rapid changes. The country’s biggest companies that operate land-based gambling businesses, The Star Entertainment Group and Crown Resorts, have both come under regulatory scrutiny, and in the case of Crown Resorts, the company has been so far fined AU$200m ($110m) in Victoria alone.

The desire to overhaul gambling in Australia and protect consumers has given rise to many ideas. One such idea has been the complete suspension of gambling advertisement from sporting events, and possibly TV and public spaces. Entain has already begun to phase out its shirt sponsorships for Ladbrokes and Neds, the two brands it operates in Australia.

Another idea is the use of a cashless gambling card to make sure that criminals are unable to launder money through pubs and clubs in New South Wales and Australia in general, but not everyone agrees. According to ClubsNSW, a gaming industry body, cashless gambling cards will in a way equate customers to criminals and undermine loyalty, The Guardian reported citing the organization and its top brass.

ClubsNSW CEO Josh Landis is not convinced that the introduction of a cashless gambling card will actually help stem the tide of crime, whereas it could actually impact the regulated sector disproportionately, alienating customers who would be disciplined to continue playing if they feel like their every step is being watched closely.

Landis argued that criminals are spending their money on everything from tattoos to jewelry, to food, but none of these industries were actually forcing their customers to make deposits exclusively in cashless technology. Despite Landis’ objections, though, the proponents of this measure are actually arguing a strong case.

Those pushing for a cashless gaming card are not doing so on a whim. Rather, it has been discovered that the equivalent of billions of dollars of dirty money is being laundered through poker machines across clubs and pubs in NSW, and Australia, every year. Not only that, but the amount that was allegedly being laundered was the eye-watering $95bn, enough it seems to mandate a much stricter response to what could be a serious criminal activity spread across New South Wales and other Australian provinces.

The report that outlined the issue originally said that poker machines, or pokies as they are referred to in Australia, remain a real problem as they accept cash, and this makes it harder to stop money-laundering. A cashless gaming card could help and if a person has nothing to hide, they should hardly feel like a criminal.

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