POLi Casino Deposits in 2026: Why POLi No Longer Works
POLi was the payment people reached for when they did not want to hand a casino their card details. It still exists. It just does not work the way almost every page about it still says it does. Australia Post closed POLi in Australia on 30 September 2023, and what survived operates only in New Zealand, under a company called Merco Ltd.
The more interesting change came later. POLi spent years as the service your bank told you not to touch. Then open banking arrived in December 2025, and POLi turned up on the other side of it as an accredited provider wired into all four of New Zealand’s largest banks. That is a real turnaround. Almost nothing written about POLi has caught up with it, so here is where the service actually works now, and what to use if you came here looking for a casino deposit.
The short answer is that you can’t use POLi at an online casino in 2026, and you never could withdraw to it. POLi closed in Australia on 30 September 2023, and in New Zealand its own merchant rules list unlicensed online casinos as a prohibited business. If you are in Australia, online casinos cannot legally be offered to you at all, so no payment method changes that.
Pays direct from your bank account
No card or wallet details shared
Bank approved open banking connection
POLi at a Glance
| Service | Bank to merchant online payment |
| Owner | Merco Ltd, New Zealand |
| Where it works | New Zealand only |
| Australia | Closed 30 September 2023 |
| How it connects | Open banking APIs, accredited by MBIE |
| Banks | ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, Westpac, TSB, The Cooperative Bank |
| Cost to you | Free, the merchant pays |
| Speed | Confirmed in real time, usually settled the same day |
| Withdrawals | Not supported, and never were |
| Casino availability | Not a listed POLi industry |
Two rows in that table do most of the work. POLi is a New Zealand service, and it is a one way one. Everything else follows from those.
What POLi Is and How It Works
POLi is a way of paying a business straight from your bank account. There is no card number, no wallet to top up and no account to register. You pick POLi at checkout, choose your bank, approve the payment, and the merchant gets a real time confirmation that the payment has been made.
That is the whole product. That last part is why merchants liked it. A card payment can be charged back weeks later. A POLi payment is a bank transfer that has already happened, so an airline or a retailer can release the booking straight away without carrying chargeback risk.
The Payment Flow
From the outside it is four steps. You choose POLi, you choose your bank, you authenticate with that bank, and you land back on the merchant’s confirmation page. The whole thing takes under a minute on a decent connection.
What changed is what happens in the middle. For most of POLi’s life, that authentication meant typing your internet banking login into a POLi window. The money moved, but a third party had briefly held the keys to your account, and the banks hated it.
Why the Banks Objected
The technique was screen scraping. POLi took your credentials, signed into your bank as if it were you, made the transfer and read the result back off the screen. It worked. Banks still hated it, because their fraud rules are built on the idea that nobody but you ever holds your login, and a service that breaks that rule breaks the rules underneath it too.
ASB, ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank all pushed back over the years, and Commonwealth Bank cited security when it stopped accepting POLi outright. The pattern is worth noticing, because it is what eventually killed the Australian business rather than any lack of customers.
What Open Banking Changed
Open banking replaces the login with a permission. Instead of handing over credentials, you approve a single payment inside your bank’s own environment, and the bank hands POLi a confirmation through an API it controls. POLi never sees the password, because there is no password to see.
New Zealand made this the standard on 1 December 2025, when the four largest banks were required to connect accredited providers to their open banking APIs. POLi is one of those accredited providers, and it says it has moved more than 1,300 merchants onto the new connections so far.
And that matters more than anything else on this page, because most of the objections ever raised against POLi were objections to the old method.
Where POLi Works in 2026
One country. That is the short answer, and it is the answer most pages about POLi still get wrong.
Australia: Closed Since 2023
I went back to POLi’s own announcements rather than the coverage of them. Australia Post announced in July 2023 that it was shutting POLi down, and the business wound up on 30 September 2023. The cause was straightforward. Three of the major Australian banks had withdrawn acceptance, two of them during 2022 and a third from the middle of 2023, and a payment method the banks will not carry has nowhere to go.
Australia Post had owned POLi since December 2014, through its subsidiary SecurePay Holdings. When it closed the Australian business it did not sell it on, so there is no Australian POLi to come back to. An Australian bank account will not work with the service anywhere.
Plenty of comparison pages, casino cashier lists and old blog posts still say otherwise. That is where most of the confusion about POLi comes from, and it has been going on for three years now.
New Zealand: Still Running
Merco Ltd took local ownership on the same day the Australian business closed, and the New Zealand service carried on without a break. POLi says the change did not affect its merchants or customers there at all.
It is genuinely widely used. Not a niche tool. POLi connects to ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, Westpac, TSB and The Cooperative Bank, which covers essentially every retail bank a New Zealander is likely to hold an account with, and it turns up at airlines, telecoms, electronics retailers, schools and government agencies.
Everywhere Else
Nowhere. POLi was built for Australia and New Zealand and never expanded beyond them, so the Australian closure left one market standing. If you are outside New Zealand, POLi is not a payment option you can use, and no amount of shopping around for a merchant that lists it will change that.
Where New Zealanders Actually Use POLi
It helps to see where POLi turns up, because the picture it gives you is nothing like a casino cashier.
I pulled the merchant list to see. The service has been running in New Zealand for the better part of two decades, and the merchants that take it are mostly big, boring and domestic. Air New Zealand takes it. So do Spark for phone bills, PB Tech for electronics, InterCity for coach travel, and a long list of government agencies, schools and sports clubs.
Those are exactly the merchants a bank transfer suits. High value, low fraud, no need for a chargeback, and a business that would rather not pay card interchange on an airfare.
What That Tells You
POLi has settled into being infrastructure. It is the New Zealand equivalent of paying by bank transfer with the tedious bits removed, and its customers are the sort of organizations that care about cost per transaction rather than about being fashionable.
Gambling does not fit that profile and it never really did. High chargeback risk, heavy compliance load, and banks that already watch gambling transactions closely. When I checked POLi’s own list of the industries it serves, the nine categories it names are all in the first group and none of them is in the second.
Can You Use POLi at an Online Casino?
No. POLi does not work at online casinos in 2026. Its own merchant rules list unlicensed gaming services, including online casinos, as a prohibited business, and the Australian service shut on 30 September 2023. So a casino deposit with POLi, or a POLi gambling deposit of any kind, is not something an Australian bank account can make.
POLi also publishes the industries it serves on its own site, and the list runs to nine: retailers, financial services, professional services, sports clubs, charities and not for profits, schools, equestrian events, hospitality and entertainment, and travel. Gambling is not on it.
The prohibited list is the stronger evidence. POLi’s participation criteria, the rules a business signs up under, name unlicensed online casinos, gaming and sports betting outright. The single carve-out is for businesses licensed or registered in New Zealand, which matters once New Zealand licenses its first online casinos.
Why It Went Away
Two things happened at once. Banks tightened their position on any service that logged into online banking on a customer’s behalf, which made casino operators nervous about a method their own banks were warning about. Then the Australian market closed entirely in 2023.
I went looking for a live cashier that still takes POLi and could not find one worth recommending. What I did find was a long tail of pages listing casinos that supposedly accept it, several of which also confidently tell Australian readers to go ahead, which tells you how carefully those lists are maintained.
Is POLi Instant?
Yes, at the checkout. A POLi payment is approved inside your own bank, and once you confirm it you are sent straight back to the merchant, with the funds going directly to its bank account. The money itself moves at bank speed. POLi settles several times a day, 7 days a week, and a payment between two different New Zealand banks sent between 9 AM and 10 PM arrives the same day.
Which Casinos Take POLi in Australia?
None. POLi closed in Australia on 30 September 2023, so no casino can take it from an Australian bank account, whatever an old list says. The law matters more. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 makes it illegal to offer online casinos to people in Australia, and ACMA, the federal regulator, says it cannot help you if an illegal site withholds your winnings.
That is why this page names no casino for Australian readers. Offshore sites that market pokies to Australians can also be blocked, which can lock you out of an account with money still in it. If gambling has stopped being fun, the National Gambling Helpline is on 1800 858 858, free and open 24 hours a day.
Can New Zealanders Use POLi at a Casino?
Not at an online casino today. POLi’s prohibited list bars unlicensed online casinos, and its only exception is for businesses licensed or registered in New Zealand. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 puts up to 15 licenses on offer, and from 1 December 2026 only providers holding a license, or with an application under consideration, may keep offering online casino games to New Zealanders.
No license has been issued yet, though. The Department of Internal Affairs expects to issue the first ones from early 2027, so until then there is no New Zealand-licensed casino for POLi’s exception to cover. After that, whether any of them adds POLi is the operator’s call.
Is There a Best Casino for POLi?
No. There is no best casino for POLi, because no online casino can take POLi under POLi’s own rules unless it is licensed or registered in New Zealand. Any list ranking POLi casinos in 2026 is ranking a button that leads nowhere. If you play from New Zealand, judge a site by its license first after 1 December 2026, then by what its cashier offers.
If You See a POLi Button
Treat it as a leftover rather than an offer. Cashier menus are notoriously slow to be pruned, and a dead method sitting in a dropdown is common. Pick something else before you deposit, because a failed deposit that leaves your money in limbo for three days is a worse outcome than choosing a card in the first place.
How to Spot a Stale Listing
There are three tells, and they take about a minute to check. First, look at whether the same page also names Australia as a POLi market. If it does, it has not been touched since 2023 and nothing else on it can be trusted either.
Second, check whether the fee is quoted in Australian dollars. The old POLi merchant pricing gets copied from page to page long after the business that set it stopped existing. It is a fossil.
Third, open the casino’s own cashier rather than the list telling you about it. The operator’s live deposit page is the only thing that settles it, and it takes one click from the account screen. If POLi is not there, no amount of third party listing makes it available to you.
Deposits and Withdrawals
How a POLi Payment Works
- Choose POLi at the merchant’s checkout
- Pick your bank from the list
- Approve the payment inside your bank’s own app or website
- Get bounced back to the merchant with a confirmation
The money leaves your account once you approve, and you and the merchant both get a completed payment notice straight away. Settlement follows at bank speed, and most POLi payments now settle the same day, usually within two hours.
Can POLi Be Used for Withdrawals?
No. POLi only moves money one way, from your bank account straight to a merchant’s bank account, and it never holds a balance. Its own support pages say POLi has no involvement in the refund process and that money never passes through an account held by POLi. So there is no POLi withdrawal, and no POLi withdrawal time to wait for.
This is not a limitation anyone imposed on gambling in particular. It is what the product is.
Anywhere you can pay with POLi, a refund or a payout comes back by a different route, usually a straight bank transfer to the account you paid from.
Is There a POLi Withdrawal Fee?
No, because there is no POLi withdrawal to charge for. Some casino lists quote a 1% POLi fee, but that is what POLi charges the merchant on each payment, capped at $3, not a cost of taking money out. POLi charges the payer nothing.
If a merchant refunds a POLi payment, POLi’s terms say the refund goes back to the same bank account the payment came from.
Fees, Limits and Speed
POLi never charges you to pay with it, in its own words, though its terms let a merchant add a fee of its own. POLi charges the business instead: 1% of each payment, capped at $3, with a $10 monthly minimum. It is the same arrangement as a card terminal, so any surcharge you do meet is one the business added.
| What | POLi |
| Fee to the payer | None |
| Fee to the merchant | 1% per payment, capped at $3 |
| Minimum | $1 per payment |
| Maximum | $50,000 per payment by default, or your bank’s daily limit if that is lower |
| Confirmation | Seconds |
| Reversible | No, it is a bank transfer |
The Limit That Actually Bites
POLi sets a default cap of $50,000 a payment, so your daily online banking limit is usually the one that bites. Your bank can raise it, and if a payment fails for no obvious reason that is the first thing worth checking.
The irreversibility is the part to think about. A card payment can be disputed and a chargeback can claw it back. A POLi payment is money that has already left, so the protection you have is whatever the merchant offers you, and nothing more.
When a POLi Payment Fails
If POLi is not working at a casino, the likeliest reason is that the button is a dead listing. POLi closed in Australia on 30 September 2023 and its rules bar unlicensed online casinos, so a casino POLi option usually goes nowhere. Away from casinos, most failures come down to one of four things, and none of them means the money has gone missing.
The Usual Causes
| Symptom | Usual cause | What to do |
| Your bank is not listed | POLi does not support that bank | Use a card or a straight transfer |
| Payment declines at approval | Daily transfer limit reached | Raise the limit in your banking app |
| Money left, merchant shows nothing | Confirmation did not get back | Keep the receipt, contact the merchant |
| POLi window will not load | Blocker or an outdated browser | Disable blockers, or switch browser |
The third one is the only one that ever causes real anxiety, and it resolves almost every time. The transfer has happened, your bank has a record of it, and the merchant can match the payment against its own settlement file once someone looks.
Keep the POLi Receipt
If a payment errors after the money has left your account, the money is with the merchant, POLi says, not lost. Send the merchant proof of the payment leaving your account, plus the POLi ID, which usually starts with 9964 or 9965.
POLi gives both sides a receipt at the moment the payment completes. Screenshot it. It is the single most useful thing you can have if a transaction has to be traced, and it takes two seconds at the point where you are least inclined to bother.
And do not chase a failed payment by simply trying again. Two successful transfers are much harder to unpick than one missing confirmation, and I have seen that turn a ten minute problem into a fortnight of emails.
Security, and What Your Bank Says
This is the part of POLi’s story that has genuinely changed, and it is worth separating what used to be true from what is true now.
How POLi Authenticates Now
Since open banking went live, POLi connects through bank approved APIs under an accreditation granted by MBIE, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, under the Customer and Product Data Regulations. You approve the payment inside your own bank, and POLi receives a confirmation rather than a credential.
That accreditation covers ANZ, BNZ, ASB and Westpac, with Kiwibank joining the program in July 2026. It is the difference between a service that borrows your identity and one the bank has agreed to deal with.
The Bank Terms Question
Before that, the position was ugly. Consumer NZ looked into it in May 2024 after a member reported that paying with POLi had invalidated his Kiwibank guarantee, and not only for that payment but for all his later internet banking. Its title says POLi breaches your banking security, and Consumer NZ found that ASB, BNZ and Westpac customers breach their bank’s terms and conditions by using POLi.
The Banking Ombudsman, Nicola Sladden, told Consumer NZ that third party systems like POLi sat outside her jurisdiction, and added that they recommend customers do not share their banking credentials, including entering internet banking login details into a third party system.
Is POLi Safe for Casino Payments?
POLi is safe as a bank payment, but it is not a safe route to a casino. It never charges you, and in New Zealand it now connects through bank approved APIs. The risk sits with the merchant. A POLi payment cannot be charged back the way a card can, and POLi’s rules bar unlicensed online casinos, so a gambling site still taking POLi is working outside POLi’s own terms.
If Something Goes Wrong
I would still keep a card for anything unfamiliar. Open banking is designed to remove exactly that problem, because there are no credentials to share any more. Even so, a bank transfer is a bank transfer. If you pay a merchant that does not deliver, you are relying on the merchant to make it right, and there is no chargeback sitting behind you the way there is with a card.
So the honest read is that POLi is much safer than it was and still carries the risk every push payment carries. Use it with businesses you already trust, and keep a card for the ones you do not.
New Zealand's New Online Casino Rules
There is a second reason the old advice about POLi and casinos is out of date, and it has nothing to do with payments. New Zealand has just built a licensing regime where there was not one.
The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 came into force on 1 May 2026, with the supporting regulations following on 3 July 2026. It creates the country’s first licensed online casino market, run by the Department of Internal Affairs, with harm minimization and consumer protection as its stated purpose.
What the Regime Looks Like
Up to 15 licenses are available through a three stage process. Expressions of interest closed on 14 August 2026, each license runs for up to three years with a possible five year renewal, each one covers a single brand, and no applicant may hold more than three.
The date that matters for players is 1 December 2026. From then, any operator that has not applied for a license has to stop offering online casino gambling to New Zealanders. Operators that have applied can carry on while their application is decided, but without advertising.
Who Won the License Auction
The license auction ran from 29 September to 12 October 2026. It drew 32 bidders, finished at NZ$15 million per license, and left 11 companies with the right to apply, among them two SkyCity entities, TAB New Zealand and Stake New Zealand. Winning a place is not a license. The Department of Internal Affairs expects to issue the first licenses from early 2027.
Advertising Is Banned for Now
Online casino advertising to New Zealanders is prohibited right now. The Department of Internal Affairs can issue takedown notices and penalties of up to NZ$5 million for an unlawful ad, and that reaches whoever publishes it, not only the casino. Licensed operators will be allowed to advertise, with restrictions, once licensing is complete in early 2027.
That is why this page names no casino for New Zealand readers, in the same way it names none for Australians.
None of which changes what POLi does. But if you are choosing where to play from New Zealand, the license question is about to matter more than the payment menu does.
What the New Rules Mean for Players
A licensed market changes the things worth checking before you deposit, and it changes them in the player’s favor.
Licensed operators answer to the Department of Internal Affairs. That means enforceable harm minimization duties, real advertising limits and a regulator with the power to pull a license, rather than an offshore address and an email form. If a dispute goes badly, there is somebody to escalate it to.
The Practical Difference
Right now the New Zealand market is unlicensed, which is why the payment menu at a given site tells you very little about whether the site is any good. Once the first licenses arrive, expected from early 2027, the license itself becomes the first filter, and the cashier becomes the second.
So the useful habit is the boring one. Check who holds a license, then check what they let you deposit with, and treat any page that leads with the payment method as having the priorities backwards.
Two Payment Rules to Expect
The regulations set two payment rules that will change how you deposit. A licensed operator cannot accept a credit card, or any payment method that involves a credit contract, and you can register only one deposit method per gambling platform, with no change allowed within 24 hours of setting it. Every customer has to be verified as at least 18.
If gambling stops being fun, the Gambling Helpline is free on 0800 654 655, or text 8006.
What to Use Instead of POLi
That depends on where you are, and on whether you meant a casino at all. For everyday payments POLi still does its job in New Zealand, and in Australia PayID and Osko took over the bank to bank role. For a casino deposit, the honest answer is shorter than most pages make it.
In Australia
No payment method makes an online casino lawful for you. The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 bars online casinos from being offered to people in Australia, and since 11 June 2024 licensed betting sites cannot take credit cards or crypto either. If an illegal gambling site asks you to pay a PayID, Australian Payments Plus says that is almost certainly a scam.
In New Zealand, Where You Can Bet Legally Today
Online sports and racing betting is lawful in New Zealand only through TAB NZ, including its Betcha brand, and Lotto is sold online through MyLotto. Neither takes POLi. TAB NZ lists cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Online EFTPOS and bank transfer for deposits, and MyLotto takes Visa or Mastercard or a payment from your bank account, with a $150 top-up limit every 7 days.
When Licensed Online Casinos Arrive
POLi’s rules already exempt New Zealand-licensed businesses, so a licensed casino could add it. None holds a license yet, and the regulations allow one deposit method per platform with no credit cards, so pick that method with some care. The other methods we cover are in our payment methods guide.
PayID vs POLi and Osko
Is PayID Better Than POLi for Casino Deposits?
Not for casinos. PayID is not a casino deposit method to go looking for in Australia. Australian Payments Plus, which runs it, warns that being asked to pay a PayID on an illegal gambling site almost certainly means a scam, and that you cannot win money from those sites or get it back. POLi closed in Australia in 2023, so neither one is a lawful route to an online casino.
As everyday payments, both are good. PayID is offered by over 100 financial institutions and shows you the name behind it before you hit send, and an Osko transfer between banks lands in under a minute, 24/7.
POLi and Its Replacements, Side by Side
| Method | Where it works | Speed | Can it pay you back? | Online casinos | Checked |
| POLi | New Zealand only. Closed in Australia on 30 September 2023 | Settled several times a day, 7 days a week. Between different banks, same day if sent 9 AM to 10 PM | No. POLi has no involvement in refunds | Unlicensed online casinos are a prohibited business | 30 Oct 2026 |
| PayID | Australia, offered by over 100 financial institutions | Fast, inside your online banking | Yes, it receives money as well as sending it | A PayID request on an illegal gambling site is almost certainly a scam | 30 Oct 2026 |
| Osko bank transfer | Australia, between participating banks | Under a minute, 24/7 | Not stated | Online casinos may not be offered to people in Australia | 30 Oct 2026 |
| Credit card (Australia) | Banned for online betting in Australia since 11 June 2024 | Not stated | Not stated | Cards in digital wallets are caught by the ban too | 30 Oct 2026 |
Every cell comes from the provider’s or the regulator’s own page, and the Checked column is the date we last read it. A cell marked Not stated means the source does not say.
One more Australian rule belongs here. Since 11 June 2024, Australian betting sites cannot take a credit card, a credit card loaded into a digital wallet, or crypto, so the card route is closed as well.
Who POLi Is Actually For
POLi is a good product for the job it now does. If you are in New Zealand and you are paying an airline, a power company, a school or a retailer, it is quick, it costs you nothing, and since the open banking move it no longer asks you to do anything your bank disapproves of.
It is not a casino payment method, and pretending otherwise does nobody any favors. It is not available in Australia and has not been since 2023. If either of those is what brought you here, the answer is to pick a different method rather than to keep looking for a site that still lists this one.
What to Do Instead
In Australia, no payment method makes an online casino lawful, so there is nothing to switch to. In New Zealand, the lawful options today are TAB NZ and MyLotto, and neither takes POLi. When the first licensed online casinos arrive, expected from early 2027, check the license first and the cashier second.
Gamble responsibly, and if it stops being fun, our Responsible Gambling guide has the tools and the numbers to call.
POLi FAQ
Is POLi instant?
Yes, at the checkout. You approve a POLi payment inside your own bank and are sent straight back to the merchant. The money then moves at bank speed, with POLi settling several times a day, 7 days a week. POLi does not work at online casinos.
Can I still use POLi in Australia?
No. Australia Post closed POLi in Australia on 30 September 2023 after three of the major banks withdrew acceptance, and nothing replaced it. An Australian bank account cannot be used with POLi, whatever an out of date cashier page says.
Which online casinos accept POLi in Australia?
None. POLi has not operated in Australia since 30 September 2023, and offering online casinos to people in Australia is illegal under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Any site still offering POLi to Australians is out of date or unlicensed.
Do online casinos accept POLi?
No. POLi’s own merchant rules list unlicensed online casinos, gaming and sports betting as prohibited businesses. The only exception is for businesses licensed or registered in New Zealand, and none is licensed before early 2027. If a cashier still shows a POLi button, treat it as a leftover.
Can you withdraw casino winnings to POLi?
No, and you never could. POLi only sends money from your bank to a merchant and has no involvement in refunds, so there is no POLi withdrawal time. Any payout needs a different method, usually a bank transfer or an e-wallet.
Is POLi safe to use?
It is safer than it was. Since December 2025 POLi has been accredited for open banking by MBIE and connects through bank approved APIs rather than by taking your login. That was the objection banks kept raising.
Is PayID better than POLi for casino deposits?
Neither is a lawful casino route in Australia. POLi closed there in 2023, and Australian Payments Plus warns that a request to pay a PayID on an illegal gambling site is almost certainly a scam. For everyday payments, PayID works at over 100 financial institutions.
What should I use instead of POLi?
In Australia, PayID and Osko do the bank to bank job for everyday payments, but no payment method makes an online casino lawful there. In New Zealand, TAB NZ takes cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Online EFTPOS and bank transfer, and MyLotto takes Visa, Mastercard or a bank payment.
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