Crown Resorts has been fined A$80m ($57.4m; £45.6m) for illegally accepting Chinese bank cards at its casino in Melbourne, the BBC reported on 31 May 2022. The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) said Crown had breached Australia's casino regulations by allowing gambling funds to be withdrawn using credit or debit cards1.
The regulator found that Crown processed A$164m in China UnionPay card payments between 2012 and 2016, drawing in A$32m of revenue in the process. The transactions were falsely classified as "services" provided by the Crown Towers hotel in Melbourne. Patrons were instead given vouchers that could be exchanged for cash or chips at Crown's neighboring casino1.
According to the regulator, the "clandestine" scheme also allowed some Chinese nationals to spend more in foreign currencies than was allowed under Chinese law. To deter money laundering and excessive gambling, casinos in Australia are not allowed to accept bank cards1.
"The fine will ensure that Crown is stripped of the revenue it derived from the process and will send a clear message that it must comply with its regulatory obligations"
Crown acknowledged its "historic failings" and said its board and senior management were "committed to the delivery of a comprehensive reform and remediation program to ensure Crown delivers a safe and responsible gaming environment". The company operates integrated resorts in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney1.
Crown is also under scrutiny from regulators who have alleged the company knowingly dealt with criminal organizations and then misled authorities about those dealings. Its Melbourne casino is currently only allowed to operate under the supervision of a government-appointed manager1.
What it means for players
The fine concerns how money moved into Crown Melbourne, not the games themselves. For players, the practical point is that Australian casinos cannot accept credit or debit cards for gambling funds, so card-based deposits of the kind Crown processed through China UnionPay are not a permitted route into an Australian casino1. The scheme described by the regulator involved vouchers exchanged for cash or chips rather than direct card play, and the regulator said it let some Chinese nationals move more foreign currency than Chinese law allowed1.
For visitors from China, that second point matters beyond Australia: Chinese rules on foreign currency spending apply to the cardholder, and the VGCCC found the Crown arrangement worked around them1. Anyone weighing how card payments are handled at gambling venues in Asia can compare the general rules in our guide to using Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay and JCB cards for gambling in Asia and to gambling payments in Asia. For the China side of the story, see paying and withdrawing at gambling sites from China and can I gamble in China?.
What happens next
Crown's Melbourne casino continues to operate under a government-appointed manager1. The BBC reported no date for when that supervision might end, and no timeline for the wider regulatory scrutiny of the company's dealings with criminal organizations1.
