Roxy Palace Casino Closes, LeoVegas Launches Open Banking, And More
Roxy Palace Casino has officially shut down worldwide.
The popular online casino officially closed its doors yesterday (November 30) after 18 years. The website, which was operated by the Kindred Group, launched back in 2002 and in 2015 was snapped up by 32Red before the company was purchased by the Kindred Group in 2016.
Earlier this year, the Kindred Group’s affiliate marketing team informed all partnered affiliate marketers that promotion of Roxy Palace was to end from May 1st, 2020, hinting at a possible closure. However, Roxy Palace’s closure wasn’t officially announced to affiliate marketers until yesterday, the online casino’s last official day of business.
As reported by Casinomeister, the Kindred Group’s affiliate program confirmed the website’s closure in an email sent out to all marketers which reads: “It has been decided that Roxy Palace be closed permanently today, 30th November 2020. We would ask that you remove any content related to Roxy Palace from your affiliate site.”
Users who visit the Roxy Palace Casino website today are greeted with a statement, confirming that the online casino is now shut and that all accounts have been transferred to its sister site 32Red.com. The full statement reads:
“Roxy Palace closed its virtual doors on 30th November. All accounts have been transferred to our sister casino at 32Red.com. You can log in to 32Red using the same username and password as you used on Roxy, simply click the link below to enjoy the same great games that you are used to. If your username and password don’t work, please wait before trying again. Accounts are in the process of being transferred. If you continue to be unable to log in after 25hrs have passed, please contact us for assistance.”
It’s unknown why the Kindred Group have decided to shut down Roxy Palace Casino, but it seems the team is continuing its operation of fellow brands 32Red and Unibet. While both of these websites are great alternatives, many fans will be disappointed over the abrupt closure of Roxy Palace.
LeoVegas Launches Open Banking In The UK
It’s not all doom and gloom for the online casino market as LeoVegas this week announced the launch of open banking, a process in which customers can share their transaction history with businesses, in the United Kingdom. LeoVegas’ announcement marks the first online casino to allow open banking transactions done under PSD2 (Second European Payment Services Directive) through the casino site’s proprietary tech platform.
As reported by iGaming Business, the company is set to roll out its open banking solution across its European markets within the coming months, and it hopes that the solution will allow for more secure and faster payments for customers directly from their bank accounts. LeoVegas believes it will also lower transaction costs and reduce the dependence on other payment methods like PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, and more.
Gustaf Hagman, the Chief Executive of the LeoVegas Group, said in a statement: “Secure, seamless, and fast payments are incredibly important, and the fact that we now – through PSD2 – have the opportunity to directly integrate with many European banks, will provide a superior customer experience offered by security and speed.
“Conducting transactions via open banking is also considerably more cost-effective compared with traditional payment methods. There is a high level of activity in our product and technology development organisation, and it is exciting to see all of the innovations we are delivering to our customers. We are first out in the industry with this pioneering payment solution, which will change the entire payments industry in the years ahead.”
New Casino Agreements
In addition to all of this news, several online casinos have announced brand new content partnerships to expand their game portfolios and provide players with a wider selection of casino games too.
First up is Casumo which struck a partnership with leading game developer Playtech. Under the brand new agreement, Playtech’s entire game catalogue will be made available at Casumo Casino in the UK, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark. The games will then be rolled out to Casumo’s sister sites Dunder, CasinoSecret, and Kazoom Casino in early 2021.
Some of the content to be made available through Casumo will include Playtech’s live casino and table games portfolio as well as its vast catalogue of video slots including both licensed and unlicensed titles.
Shelly Suter-Hadad, the Chief Executive Officer at Casumo, said of the agreement: “Having collaborated with Playtech for many years, I could not be more delighted to be a partner once again and deliver this new integration across our group of brands. We are looking forward to further developing this relationship over the coming years and working together to bring Playtech games to our players in a variety of established and emerging markets.”
Meanwhile, Video Slots this week announced that it had signed an agreement with slot developer AGS. Under this agreement, AGS’s entire catalogue of casino games will be made at Video Slots including games such as Capital Gains, Wolf Queen, Luck And Luxury, Vegas Stacks, Olympus Strikes, Pharaoh Sun, and more. The move will help AGS, which is located in Las Vegas, expand its player reach while also enhancing Video Slots’ vast game catalogue.
William Ahlberg, the Head of Commerical at Video Slots, said in a statement to Casino Beats: “These are exciting times for players at Video Slots and our collaboration with AGS will only take that up another level. We pride ourselves on providing them with the best and widest range of innovative and original content, and the addition of AGS’ popular and high performing games is a real boost to our portfolio.”
Matt Reback, the Executive Vice President at AGS, added: “We are delighted to have agreed to this partnership with Videoslots. They are a true innovator and very forward-thinking, so we look forward to a long and successful relationship. We’re proud of the games we’ve created, and it’s great that more players will now be able to enjoy them on such a popular site.”