Using a credit card for gambling

If you want to place a bet on the Melbourne Cup, pay for scratchies and lottery tickets or play poker online, credit cards are usually very expensive. Most credit card providers categorise gambling transactions differently to everyday purchases and charge high rates (up to 29.49% p.a.) and fees for them. Others don’t let you use your card to gamble at all.

In fact, an Australian Banking Association (ABA) consultation report from December 2020 has led to more discussion about whether banks should ban the use of credit cards for gambling transactions, including "lower-risk" options like buying lottery tickets. But at the moment, the decision remains with individual banks and credit card providers.

Credit card companies that charge the cash advance rate for gambling transactions

If your credit card allows you to make gambling transactions, the charge will typically be categorised as a cash advance. This is because gambling charges are often "cash equivalents" or "cash substitutes" (ie. where you spend money to get another form of money).

These transactions attract a cash advance fee and the higher cash advance interest rate that everyday purchases. Cash advances are also commonly exempt from any interest-free period, which means you'll be charged interest on gambling transactions from the time they are made. In this table you can find out which providers allow gambling transactions and the range of cash advance interest rates for personal credit cards.

Provider	Gambling transactions	Cash advance rate (varies by card)
American Express	Prohibited	N/A
ANZ	Cash advance rate	20.24% p.a.
Bankwest	Cash advance rate	21.99% p.a.
Bank of Melbourne	Cash advance rate	21.49% p.a.
Bank of Queensland	Prohibited	N/A
CommBank	Cash advance rate	21.24% p.a.
Citi	Prohibited	N/A
Great Southern Bank	Prohibited	N/A
HSBC	Cash advance rate	21.99% p.a.
NAB	Cash advance rate	21.74% p.a.
St.George	Cash advance rate	21.49% p.a.
Suncorp Bank	Prohibited	N/A
Virgin Money	Prohibited	N/A
Westpac	Cash advance rate	21.49% p.a.

Using a credit card at gambling establishments

If you're at a gambling establishment, using your credit card for non-gambling activities – such as buying drinks or meals – could also attract the cash advance fee and interest rate. When this happens, it is because the establishment’s merchant category code is preset to process gambling transactions. So, when the charge goes through to your credit card company, it will most likely be processed as a gambling transaction or cash advance.

If you're planning to use your credit card for a dinner, drinks or anything else at a venue that allows gambling, call your credit card company first and ask them if your spending would be considered a purchase or a cash advance. Alternatively, get a receipt for your spending and – if you think it is wrongly processed as a cash advance – contact your issuer and explain the transactions were not for gambling.

What should I think about before using a credit card for gambling?

Make sure you think about these factors before using your credit card for gambling transactions:

• Interest rate. The cash advance interest rates on most credit cards are usually much higher than your regular purchase transaction rates. This rate can reach as high as 29.49% (at the time of writing).
• Cash advance fee. In addition to the interest charges, you will be charged a cash advance fee, which can be the greater of either a percentage of the transaction amount or a minimum fee. The cash advance fee is typically worth 2–4% of the transaction, which means it would cost you between $10 and $20 for a $500 bet.
• No interest-free days. Cash advances are not eligible for the standard interest-free period on your card. This means that interest begins accruing immediately when you make a gambling transaction.
• Rewards. As with cash withdrawals from an ATM, travellers’ cheque purchases and other similar cash equivalent transactions, you will not usually be able to earn credit card rewards points for gambling transactions.
• Promotional offers. Credit cards that intermittently offer 0% interest or bonus points for new customers will likely exclude gambling purchases from the list of “eligible transactions” required to take advantage of those deals.

Now that you’re aware of the fees that a gambling transaction could incur on your credit card, it may be wise to consider some alternatives. There are fee-free ways to pay for your wagers, such as debit cards or cash. If you’d still rather use a credit card, check out these low cash advance rate cards.

You could also research and explore workaround E-wallet solutions like Skrill and Neteller or PayPal – although PayPal has its own stringent rules around gambling transactions and prohibits many forms of them altogether. Whatever you decide, always remember to gamble responsibly.

Images: Shutterstock

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