What POLi was and why it closed
POLi was an Australian online bank-transfer service: at checkout you chose your bank and, in iTnews' description, entered your internet-banking username and password on POLi's page, and POLi logged in on your behalf and made the transfer, so the merchant was paid in real time without a card. It was popular with casinos because it moved bank money instantly and did not involve a card network. It was unpopular with banks for the same reason it worked: sharing internet-banking credentials with a third party breaches most banks' terms and defeats their security model. In mid-July 2023 the Commonwealth Bank stopped accepting POLi payments and told customers to pay through its own NetBank instead; with the largest bank gone and acceptance falling at others, Australia Post announced that it had “made the difficult decision to close the POLi business in Australia”, and the service ended on 30 September 2023. POLi's archived site gave the business reason: “Based on the declining acceptance of POLi in Australia, the business is no longer financially viable”. The old address, polipayments.com, now redirects to polipay.co.nz, where on 12 October 2026 the New Zealand operator said “Merco Ltd. (Master Distributor of POLi in NZ) is acquiring local ownership of the system to continue operations here in New Zealand.” That is the operator's statement; we made no payment through it. Nothing under the POLi name operates in Australia.
The leftovers in casino cashiers
Two years later, the name is still in the plumbing.
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| Casino | Where POLi appears (19 Sep) | Re-checked 12 Oct | What it means | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A POLi payment module in the cashier configuration, with deposit and cash-out field lists | Module still in the home-page code; POLi not in the AUD method list | A platform-level entry that was never removed; it cannot complete a transaction, because there is no POLi to talk to | Visit ReviewHelp 1800 858 858 | |
| A POLi payment module in the cashier configuration, with deposit and cash-out field lists | Module still in the home-page code; POLi not in the AUD method list | A platform-level entry that was never removed; it cannot complete a transaction, because there is no POLi to talk to | Visit ReviewHelp 1800 858 858 | |
| A POLi payment module in the cashier configuration, with deposit and cash-out field lists | Module still in the home-page code; POLi not in the AUD method list | A platform-level entry that was never removed; it cannot complete a transaction, because there is no POLi to talk to | Visit ReviewHelp 1800 858 858 | |
| A POLi payment module in the cashier configuration, with deposit and cash-out field lists | Module still in the home-page code; POLi not in the AUD method list | A platform-level entry that was never removed; it cannot complete a transaction, because there is no POLi to talk to | Visit ReviewHelp 1800 858 858 | |
| A POLi entry in the payment-provider list in the lobby code | Name entries still in the home-page code; POLi not in the AUD method list | Same: a processor's method list that predates the closure | Visit ReviewHelp 1800 858 858 | |
| A “POLi info” panel in the cashier's stylesheet | Not re-checked: the banking page returned a short placeholder | Dead interface code | Visit ReviewHelp 1800 858 858 | |
| Lobby copy listing POLi among deposit methods at two crypto exchanges it recommends | Not re-checked: the site showed a maintenance page that day | Stale text; the exchanges dropped POLi in 2023 | Review | |
| Not recorded | Banking page: “How to fund your eZeeWallet with POLI” | An old instruction for topping up a third-party wallet, not a casino payment method | Visit ReviewHelp 1800 858 858 | |
| Not recorded | Banking page: the same eZeeWallet instruction | Same as Ozwin | Review | |
| Other casinos we review | No mention found | POLi not in the AUD method list of CasinoChan, Dundee, Golden Crown, Lucky Dreams, PlayAmo, Queen Spins, Spinago and WooCasino; the rest not re-checked | — |
None of these is a working payment method, and a page listing “POLi casinos” with a bonus code beside each name is describing 2022. If a cashier shows a POLi button today it will fail at the bank step, and if it does not fail — if a page opens asking for your internet-banking login — you are not on POLi.
What replaced it
What POLi offered was an instant bank-to-merchant transfer without a card. Australia now has that natively, and with better protection than POLi ever had.
- PayID and Osko. A push payment from your own banking app to the payee's PayID (an email, phone number or ABN). No credentials leave your bank. The catch is the same as POLi's: a bank transfer has no chargeback, and the payee name is never the casino. A casino advertising PayID is not proof it is in the cashier: PayID pokies lists the casinos where we confirmed it in the cashier, with the date of each check.
- Bank transfer by BSB and account. Slower (same day to two days), same finality, sometimes the withdrawal route where PayID is deposit-only.
- Debit card, directly or through Apple Pay or Google Pay. Instant, carries the card network's dispute process in principle, blocked by many issuers for gambling merchants.
- Neosurf vouchers. Cash at a newsagent, a code in the cashier, nothing touches your bank; deposit only.
- Crypto. The route most operators prefer for withdrawals, with its own conversion and verification clauses.
The security comparison is the point. POLi's model required you to give a third party the keys to your bank account. PayID's model requires nothing but your own app. Whatever else changed in Australian online gambling since 2023, the disappearance of credential-sharing payments made players safer, and a “POLi alternative” that asks for your login has missed that.
One date applies to every route on this list. From 1 January 2027 the Gambling Reform Act 2026 (Act No. 72 of 2026) requires banks and payment-system participants to prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, transfers connected with a designated interactive gambling service (new s 15J). The Act does not name which services will be designated, so whether a given casino deposit is declined after that date is not known yet; PayID casinos sets out what the duty covers.
The warning
If you see this, stop
- A page that asks for your internet-banking username and password to complete a casino deposit. POLi did that; nothing legitimate does now. Close it and change your banking password.
- A “POLi” button that opens a bank-lookalike form instead of redirecting to your own bank's app or site.
- A casino review promising “instant POLi withdrawals”. POLi never paid out, and it no longer pays in.
FAQ
Can I still use POLi at online casinos in Australia?
No. Australia Post closed POLi in Australia on 30 September 2023. Any POLi entry in a casino cashier is leftover configuration and cannot complete a payment.
Why did POLi shut down?
Because it worked by logging into your internet banking with your credentials, which banks regard as a security breach. The Commonwealth Bank stopped accepting it in July 2023, acceptance fell elsewhere, and Australia Post decided the business was no longer viable.
What is the closest thing to POLi now?
PayID through Osko: a transfer from your own banking app, with no credentials shared. Whether a casino takes it for deposits or pays out by PayID is not confirmed until it appears in the cashier or the terms; PayID pokies shows what we confirmed per casino and on which date.
Is POLi still working in New Zealand?
Its New Zealand site says so: on 12 October 2026 polipay.co.nz said Merco Ltd, its master distributor there, was taking local ownership to continue operations in New Zealand. We have not made a payment through it, and it has no bearing on Australian banks or Australian players.
A casino cashier shows a POLi option. Is the casino a scam?
Not by itself: the entry is a stale module on a shared platform, and the same casinos carry working methods. It is a sign that the cashier's method list is not maintained, which is worth knowing before you rely on any other entry in it.
Sources and method
The closure date, ownership and the Commonwealth Bank's withdrawal are from iTnews' report of Australia Post's announcement, read 19 September 2026, and from POLi Payments' own site as archived by the Wayback Machine on 11 October 2023 (polipayments.com); the New Zealand position is from polipay.co.nz, read 12 October 2026. Cashier facts were read on 19 September from the payment-module configuration exposed by the Novatrix-platform lobbies, the lobby code of BitStarz and Wolf Winner, and the lobby copy of King Johnnie; on 12 October from the AUD payment-method lists that 13 cashiers return before login, the home-page code of five of them and the banking pages of Ozwin and PlayCroco; all from an Australian IP address. The 2027 rule is from the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Act 2026 on the Federal Register of Legislation. We made no deposits. We earn a commission when readers sign up through links on this site; it did not decide what is written here.
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