Aussie cashless debate rumbles on

Australian poker machine players prefer cash and will reject cashless gambling, insists ClubsNSW leader George Peponis.

He is reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that the proposed cashless gaming card would only escalate problem gambling by pushing players into unregulated online casinos.

Peponis said that while his powerful clubs organisation supported cashless, making it mandatory was something that it opposed. He said that there was no evidence that it would address problem gambling.

“We are not convinced that an untested mandatory cashless card is the way to go,” the ClubsNSW chairman said in the newspaper interview.

“The international experience demonstrates that forcing players to use cards drives recreational players to other forms of gambling, in particular to unregulated online casinos, and can exacerbate problem gambling.

“We know that society is moving towards a cashless economy, which is why we already have a digital wallet trial under way. It’s our belief that people should have the ability to pay for play on a poker machine using cash or digital technology – just as they have options when it comes to paying for everything else.”

The newspaper however highlights a comment by University of NSW economist Richard Holden who said the claims by Peponis were “absurd.” He said that cash use in Australia is now a small part of all transactions.