One of the largest banks in Australia, Westpac, has launched a new tech solution that hinders compulsive gamblers from making payments to online betting sites. The feature enables Westpac customers who cannot control their gambling spending to block financial transactions to gambling-related websites. The Aussie bank introduced the new feature in an attempt to help curb the spread of compulsive gambling over the internet.
Westpac has integrated the new functionality both within its mobile app and its desktop banking platform. The feature prevents customers from initiating payments to online gambling merchants in real-time, stopping them from using their credit and debit cards with the Mastercard brand logo. Westpac reports over 2,500 customers of the bank have already taken advantage of the new feature to curb their gambling expenditures.
The introduction of the solution is rather timely as it comes amid a dramatic rise in online gambling activities among Aussie residents. The boom of virtual betting resulted from the coronavirus pandemic, which caused landbased gaming businesses to halt their normal operations and close their doors to customers. The pandemic-associated lockdowns that followed forced many Australian gamblers to take their betting action to online gambling sites.
Aussies Can Block Payments to TAB, Ladbrokes, and Sportsbet
The new measure enables Westpac customers to block themselves from betting on popular Aussie-regulated websites such as Ladbrokes, Sportsbet, and TAB (short for Totalisator Agency Board). Australian politician Anne Ruston, who has been serving as the Minister for Families and Social Services since May 2019, also approved of the introduction of the measure.
According to Minister Ruston, the new feature would enable Australian residents to punt safely. The blocking measure would also help reduce the harms associated with compulsive gambling, Minister Ruston added. Miss Ruston stressed the online gambling block would provide residents with a convenient and effective way to manage their online betting expenditures.
The Minister for Families and Social Services praised businesses within the industry for identifying the dangers of excessive gambling as well as for adopting measures like this one that allow residents to self-regulate their spending.
Catherine Fitzpatrick, Director of Customer Vulnerability and Financial Resilience at Westpac Bank, also commented on the matter. According to Fitzpatrick, gambling addiction is a systemic issue across Australia. It has a pronounced negative effect not only on the affected individuals but on their close friends and family members as well.
Fitzpatrick pointed out problem gamblers would go out of their way to fund their betting activities, which is why Westpac opted to integrate the new feature both across credit cards and transaction accounts.
The new functionality complements Westpac’s existing service, which allows customers to call bank representatives and request them to apply a gambling block on their cards. Westpac is not the only Australian bank to introduce such measures. Bank Australia ceased processing customers’ credit card payments to gambling sites as of December 1, 2020.
- Author
Daniel Williams
