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POLi in New Zealand Casinos
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As a New Zealander, you are probably familiar with your rights when it comes to online gambling, and you probably know that you can join any online casino that is not licensed to operate in your country but offers POLi. If you are not familiar with your country’s online gambling regulations and all of this sounds weird to you, please follow our lead, as we’ll tell you all about them. But, what’s important now is to know that you can use the internet banking solution across hundreds of sites that cater to New Zealanders, for the most seamless deposits and withdrawals in your local currency, the New Zealand dollar. So, continue reading to have all the info you need to start using this amazing solution across the many online casinos at your disposal. What is POLi and why consider using it as your payment method at an online casino that accepts New Zealand players?
Online Gambling Regulation in New Zealand
No matter whether you’re new to online gambling or you’re an experienced player, it is important that you know that online gambling in New Zealand is perfectly legal. Although, a tad unconventional. As a New Zealander, while you’re allowed to join any online casino you have access to, you cannot join sites that are licensed to operate in your country. Sure, this may sound weird, but the fact of the matter is that offshore online gambling is all you get.
New Zealand legalized online gambling in 2003 with the Gambling Act, and greenlighted TAB racing, gaming machines, and sportsbetting. The Gaming Commission, the Department of Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Health are the three regulatory bodies in charge of inspecting, licensing, and overseeing operators that are licensed to operate in the country, but they are also in charge of making sure that no New Zealander gets access to online casinos licensed in the country.
What happens is that, for the time being, only offshore online gambling is allowed for New Zealanders. Players interested in joining an online casino must look for sites that are not based in the country. They can legally join sites that are licensed by other regulators from markets that offer online gambling, like the MGA or the UKGC. And in fact, as a New Zealander, when looking for sites to join, you should look for sites licensed by at least one tough regulator, to get the player protection you lack. All of this may sound really unusual since most countries with legal online gambling try to keep players engaged across home-based sites, but New Zealand took a different approach.
Things might change in the future, though, since the country announced that by 2026, it will introduce proper online gambling regulations and clarify what’s right and what’s wrong. For the time being, though, as a New Zealander, you can join any online casino you like. Thankfully, you have hundreds of sites at your disposal. Most, if not all, sites that exist nowadays openly cater to New Zealand players, since they have no legal obstacles not to.
This puts you in a unique position to choose from excellent sites and join the one that offers your absolutely favorite games. Whether slots, table games, online poker, or Live Casino games are your favorite, you can rest assured that you’ll have all kinds of options across the sites at your disposal. Delivered by the likes of Playtech, Games Global, NetEnt, and Evolution, the games offered across these sites are industry-leading, so you'll certainly get a world-class online gambling experience.
Speaking of the experience across these sites, to have the most seamless one, you need to choose a payment method to use wisely. If you wish to play using your native currency, the New Zealand dollar, you must look for methods that are close to home, local solutions that you can use at your convenience. Luckily for you, there’s one solution that is today exclusively offered in New Zealand but has been around across the online gambling industry since day one. We're talking about the local internet banking solution called POLi.
You may have heard of it or used it already, but this is a solution that is listed as an accepted method across most if not all, international online casinos. Since previously, it used to cater to Australians, too, many operators made sure to include it in their offering. That's exactly why you'd want to learn more about it, too, as with it, your choice of sites to explore and consider joining increases. So, stay with us as we'll share everything we know about it in the next section.
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Using POLi Across New Zealand Online Casinos
POLi was launched in 2006 in Australia, as part of the Australia Post. It was owned by Centricom Pty. Ltd. when it reached its peak in popularity across online gambling sites, mainly because the company behind it made sure to partner with all leading banks in Australia and New Zealand, to offer its amazing service. Its name is short for "Pay Online" and from the moment it launched, it served as a proxy, a middleman between users, their bank accounts, and the eCommerce sites.
In 2023, however, the Australia Post announced that it would cease its service for users in Australia, and that’s why today, the solution is owned by Merco and available only in New Zealand. In New Zealand, it is offered across a great number of industries, including the hospitality and entertainment industries, and that’s why you should not be surprised to learn that it is offered across the online gambling industry, too.
The best part about it is that no matter the bank you have an account with, you will be eligible to use it. All major New Zealand banks offer it, to strengthen customer relations, like Westpac, the Bank of New Zealand, TSB Bank, ANZ, Kiwibank and ASB. So, as long as you have an account with them, and you find yourself a nice online casino that accepts it, you are good to go.
To get started with it, actually, you need nothing further. You won’t be creating any new accounts to start using its service, but you will need your eBanking credentials to access it. In fact, all you have to do is enter your registered casino account, select it as your payment method, set the amount you wish to deposit, choose your bank, enter your eBanking profile, and confirm the transaction. As soon as you go through the mandatory verification, your transaction will immediately be processed through a secure proxy channel. So, follow our lead to learn the exact steps you'll need to take from the moment you join an online casino that accepts New Zealanders to actually making your deposit/withdrawal with POLi.
Deposits and Withdrawals with POLi
We already said that POLi has been offered across the global online gambling industry for almost two decades now, with many New Zealand sites accepting it since a long time ago. Therefore, you will have no issues whatsoever when it comes to picking out sites to join, as most of them accept it as a method for both deposits and withdrawals.
So, the minute you find the right casino for you, register a player account with it. Enter the needed personal details and the minute your account is ready, to fund it with POLi, do the following:
- Go to the Banking page on your registered player account.
- In the section Deposits, find POLi’s logo and press it.
- Select your bank from the listed banks on the pop-up.
- Once redirected, access your eBanking profile and specify how much you want to transfer.
- Verify and confirm the transfer and the funds will immediately be transferred to your balance.
While the solution offers the functionality, the casino can offer it for withdrawals only if it has implemented it and has duly registered with it.
To make a withdrawal with it, you will, again, need to visit the Banking page, but this time select the solution in the section Withdrawals. From here, enter the amount you wish to withdraw, and your banking details, as required, and confirm your request. The operator will receive your request, make sure that everything is alright with it, and hopefully, approve it. This can happen in a few minutes or in up to two days, depending on the operator’s withdrawal policy. Anyway, as soon as you receive the approval, the funds will be transferred to your bank account immediately.
Conclusion
Without any doubt, POLi is one of the top methods you could use as a New Zealander across international online casinos. It is led by a company based in your country and focused on improving online banking for New Zealanders, so with it, you can always be at ease when it comes to the safety of your funds. All leading New Zealand banks offer it, so you are probably eligible to use it, and most, if not all, online casinos that cater to New Zealanders accept it, so you have no other choice but to give it a try the first chance you get.
FAQs
Is it legal to gamble online in New Zealand?
Yes and no. New Zealand offers a legal online gambling market, but locals are not allowed to frequent online casinos licensed in the country. Instead, they are allowed to frequent offshore online casino sites.
Do New Zealanders get punished for gambling across offshore online casino sites?
For the time being, no; quite the contrary. They are not allowed to join local but are more than welcome to join offshore online casinos. This will probably change by 2026, though, as the country announced changes to be implemented to its online gambling laws.
Will I get to explore many online casinos that accept New Zealanders and POLi?
Yes, actually, most, if not all, online casinos that accept New Zealanders also accept POLi. It is a match made in heaven for players from New Zealand who wish to use a local solution across online casino sites based anywhere else.
Is it safe to use POLi across international online casinos?
Yes, it is actually one of the safest options at your disposal, as all transactions through it go through the banking system, and the solution offers the proxy service. Plus, it holds an ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Certification, and its official website is heavily encrypted, so you've got nothing to worry about.
Does POLi offer a Customer Support service?
It sure does. You will find a Support page on its official website, where, of course, a FAQs section is available, but also an on-site contact form that you can fill out and submit, to get the answers to your questions and any possible solutions to any problems you might be experiencing.