STRATEGIC PARTNERS
June 15, 2003
SYDNEY -- A move by National Australia Bank (NAB) to remove its ATMs from gaming venues is unlikely to have any impact, with a rival operator vowing to fill the void.
According to a report in The Age, Cashcard, Australia's biggest ATM operator, said it would bid to install 120 machines at Foster's hotels nationwide when NAB drops its contract in October.
(See related story NAB to pull most of its ATMs from gambling venues)
A Foster's spokesman said it was assessing the need for the machines, but they would likely be retained for the convenience of hotel patrons.
The ANZ and Commonwealthbanks have also decided not to withdraw ATMs from gaming venues. Westpac said it had reduced its ATMs at gaming sites from 100 to 80 and would review each venue as contracts to supply ATMs came up for renewal, according to the Age.
Cashcard operates 5,000 ATMs nationwide, with more than 1000 at gaming venues. Managing director Greg Baker said that withdrawing ATMs was not the answer to problem gambling. His company's machines have warning stickers on problem gambling and restrictions on amounts that can be withdrawn.
The NAB has experienced some backlash, with the Victorian branch of the Australian Hotels Association urging its members to reconsider banking arrangements with the NAB.
The Reverend Tim Costello, an anti-gambling advocate, renewed his call for a ban on ATMs within poker machine venues.
He said NAB's move would be simply a moral victory unless all ATM providers followed suit. He described the other operators as being "without conscience."
Costello said NAB's decision was the first step in toward the eventual removal of all ATMs from gaming venues. Twenty years ago, he said, people suggesting smoking should be banned in restaurants and on airplanes were scorned.
"People laughed and said 'That day won't come'. I think the NAB's stand on this is a step towards that day," he said.
The Inter-Church Gambling Taskforce, of which Costello is a member, in 2002 proposed a ban on ATMs within 100 meters of gaming venues to a review commissioned by the federal Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Amanda Vanstone.
This followed a Productivity Commission report that found ATMs were heavily used by problem gamblers, according to the Age. The commission said there were potentially grounds for an outright ban on ATMs at gaming venues.
A spokesman for Senator Vanstone said yesterday she would circulate a paper to state governments on ATM technology -- but it was up to them to regulate cash machines.
Victorian Gaming Minister John Pandazopoulos was not sure if a total ban was desirable, as it would affect some country areas where pubs and clubs host the only ATMs.
His Government imposed a $200 withdrawal limit on ATM and point-of-sale machines at gaming venues, and banned ATMs from the rooms in which poker machines were played.
