Betway Fined £11.6m for Failings Linked to High-Rollers

Betway, one of the leading online gambling businesses in the United Kingdom has been ordered to pay £11.6m by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC). The company is also to implement a package of measures, for a series of social responsibility and money laundering failing which have been linked to dealings with seven of its high spending customers.

Firstly, the operator has failed to carry out the source of funds checks on a VIP customer who deposited £8m and lost over £4m during a four-year period. Secondly, the operator failed to comply with effective social responsibility interactions who deposited and lost £187,000 in two days.

The investigation conducted by the UKGC found that the result of a lack of consideration of individual customers affordability and source of funds checks the operator allowed £5.8m of money circulate through the business. The majority of this money will now be divested and returned to the victims of this act.

The UK regulator is also looking into management oversight and Personal Management License holders.

Official Statements

Representatives from the UKGC say that this action suggests that VIP customers or the impact on those around them.

The actions of Betway suggest there was little regard for the welfare of its VIP customers or the impact on those around them. As part of our ongoing programme of work to make gambling safer we are pushing the industry to make rapid progress on the areas that we consider will have the most significant impact to protect consumers. The treatment and handling of high value customers is a significant piece of that work and operators are in no doubt about the need to tackle the issue at speed.

“We have set tight deadlines for when we expect to see progress and if we do not see the right results then we will have no choice but to take further action. This case highlights again why progress needs to be made.”

Mr Watson also said that this case is why the operator’s management of high value customers must change and why the iGaming industry must put in work to interact with customers responsibly.

The UKGC advised the customers to them in case they have questions concerning their with Betway.

Source:

“Betway to pay £11.6m for failings linked to ‘VIP’ customers”, gamblingcommission.gov.uk, March 12, 2020.