Online gambling operator BetVictor has been forced to pay £2 million (€2.4/$2.7 million) by the UK Gambling Commission for fairness, social responsibility, and anti-money laundering failures.
Settlement money will go to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.
Trading as BV Gaming Limited, the company runs a number of UK gambling websites including betvictor.com, betvictor.mobi, hbingo.co.uk, heartbingo.co.uk and parimatch.co.uk.
Speaking of the settlement, Leanne Oxley, Gambling Commission Director of Enforcement said:
“As a gambling regulator our focus is on ensuring that gambling in Britain is fair, safe and crime-free, and BetVictor failed consumers by breaching rules aimed at achieving these objectives.”
Oxley went on to add that failing to meet with industry compliance requirements “will never be a viable business option for gambling businesses,” and warned that the Gambling Commission “will always be tough” on any operators who fail to follow industry regulations.
She also added that the money received from the settlement will go directly to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.
The investigation found that Bet Victor failed to implement the correct anti-money laundering procedures while also failing to protect those who were vulnerable to the harms of problem gambling. The investigation also discovered an unfair term used in a promotion that implied that the promotion could be cancelled by the company at any time.
The company was also found to have failed to take into account risk factors such as high spending or players that used multiple accounts or sources of funds for their gambling activities.
In its investigation the Commission found that ‘no rationale was provided’ by the company on how risk ratings were arrived at by employees and that none of the information relating to risks that was previously provided to the company by the Commission.
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.