The ABA was commenting on the release of the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Gambling October 2009².

David Bell, Chief Executive of the ABA, said: “More than 99% of ATMs in gaming venues, pubs and clubs in Australia are deployed by independent operators - not owned and operated by banks.”

“The Commission’s draft report notes access to ATMs/EFTPOS facilities appears to increase spending by problem gamblers but concedes that ‘….causality is hard to demonstrate conclusively…’³ . However, the banking sector believes that restricting access to cash and credit in gaming venues may address community concerns regarding the incidence of problem gambling.”

“But the ABA would only support further measures to restrict access to cash where these measures did not discriminate against consumers, especially those in rural and regional Australia, and did not impose withdrawal limits in a manner that resulted in complex and costly changes being made to the payments system.”

“If a ‘$200-a-day’ withdrawal limit is to be introduced, this should be done at the facility level. That is, the gaming venue should implement protocols to restrict access to cash via EFTPOS. Plus, the independent ATM deployers should be responsible for implementing technology changes to impose daily withdrawal limits on their ATMs which are located in gaming venues. The costs of implementing new restrictions on access to cash in gaming venues should not extend to banks, other financial institutions and all their customers,” Mr Bell concluded.

The Productivity Commission has recommended pre-commitment strategies to assist problem gamblers manage their addiction and their gambling expenditure. The Commission has stated that an effective pre-commitment system would ‘…..probably make bans on ATMs or cash withdrawal limits redundant.’ ⁴

Mr Bell said: “In the ABA submission to the Commission, we highlighted a number of ways in which gaming venues can work with their customers, who have problems with gambling, to put in place certain strategies. For example, smart cards and other stored value systems, as well as self exclusion and other harm minimisation measures.”

“The banking sector believes solutions should be targeted at problem gamblers - not the entire community - who may need access to cash to facilitate spending on other goods and services, like a meal at the pub.”