Swedish Gambling Regulator Fines Four Casinos Over Bonus Violations
Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspekionen has fined four online casino websites and issued warnings over their bonus offers.
Under Sweden’s current laws, operators in the country can only offer customers a bonus when they sign up, but an investigation on player accounts by the regulator found that the four casino brands had repeatedly offered promotions on repeat occasions. As a result, Spelinspektionen has issued penalties and warnings to all four of the involved brands.
Snabbare Limited has been forced to pay a fee of SEK 65 million and has received a warning, Hajper Limited was issued a warning with a fine of SEK 50 million, ComeOn Sweden received a warning and a SEK 35 million fine, and Casinostugan received a SEK 25 million fine with a warning.
All of the penalised casino brands were found to have issued additional promotions. According to iGamingBusiness, Casinostugan offered one player a bonus of SEK 21,000 with additional free spins and ComeOn credited a player with a SEK 40,000 bonus. Snabbare Limited repeatedly gave one customer a bonus of SEK 6,950 and another customer free spins. Finally, Hajper credited one customer a bonus of SEK 7,400 and free bets, and it gave a second customer a bonus of SEK 13,500 with free spins.
Spelinspektionen has said in a statement that the amount of each brand’s fine is dependent on the seriousness of their violation, the duration of each violation, and the company’s turnover. With all regulatory breaches being similar, the differences in the brands’ fines are based on their turnover, with Snabbare having the highest.
Spelinspektionen has also said that if the operators fail to take the warnings seriously, the regulator may penalise them further, including the possibility of revoking their operating licenses in the country.
Similarly, Spelinspektionen penalised Videoslots Casino last month for breaching deposit regulations. In the country, operators are required to cap player weekly deposits at SEK 5,000, a rule that was implemented in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Videoslots, however, was found to have failed to comply with the policy after Spelinspektionen carried out an inspection into its license.
AgeChecked And Rdentify Announce New Gambling Partnership
This week, ID verification company AgeChecked and gambling risk assessment software provider Rdentify have announced a joint partnership as part of a move to improve casino operators’ process of identifying vulnerable customers.
Under the new partnership, AgeChedked and Rdentify will also merge their tech and AI software to develop groundbreaking new tools to monitor customer engagement. The companies will reportedly develop machine-learning algorithms to allow customer support teams to make earlier interventions and the two companies are aiming to provide operators with tools that help with the nuances of identifying customers at risk of gambling harm across various markets.
Daniel Brookes, the CEO at Rdentify, has said that the partnership with AgeChecked has come at a “critical time” as the UK Government is currently in the midst of its gambling review. He said in a statement to FocusGN: “Since 2017 in the UK, remote operators have been fined more than £63.5 million by the UK Gambling Commission for social responsibility failings.
“Operators rely solely on customer support agents to recognise the signs of problem gambling during their live chat interactions. Globally, the iGaming industry is highly regulated and fast-growing, with a strong focus on player protection. Rdentify provides a scalable natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning-based engine which flags end-user vulnerability risk during live chat interactions.”
Alastair Graham, the CEO and founder of AgeChecked, added: “The issue of responsible gambling has never been more important, so we are delighted to partner with Rdentify in offering a holistic solution for operators. Combining AgeChecked’s cutting-edge age verification software with Rdentify’s live chat monitoring, our solution can ensure full compliance across every stage of the customer’s journey.”
“We are committed to reducing gambling-related harm and helping operators obtain and maintain their regulatory compliance. We see innovative technological solutions such as those employed by Rdentify as being key in the fight against problem gambling.”
Red Tiger, NetEnt, And Fashion TV Announce New partnership
AgeChecked and Rdentify aren’t the only companies announcing partnerships this week, as game developers Red Tiger, NetEnt, and FashionTV Gaming Group have announced a three-way collaboration for brand new online slot Trillionaire.
As reported by European Gaming, the new five-reel slot is inspired by the song ‘I Want To Be A Trillionaire’ by FashionTV star Anja J. The slot includes several special features including a free spins mode in which models turn wild and a fashion wheel which can help players land larger wins.
Todd Haushalter, the Chief Product Officer at Evolution which now owns NetEnt and Red Tiger Gaming, said in a statement: “Combining the elegance and glamour of FashionTV with stylish gameplay, Trillionaire is a slot that looks the part while providing an engaging playing experience. Trillionaire takes branded content in a new direction, and the vast potential audience marks out this collaborative effort involving NetEnt, Red Tiger and FashionTV Gaming Group as a landmark release.”
Shai Kaplun, the COO at FashionTV Gaming Group, added: “The combination of the high lifestyle and luxury of our brand and the unique excitement of the online casino experience is encapsulated in Trillionaire. We are thrilled with the results of our partnership with NetEnt and the amazing creative work of Red Tiger, and we are sure this would-class slot will serve to significantly enhance our gaming industry presence as we move into a new era of FashionTV-branded luxury experiences in iGaming.”
The launch of FashionTV’s slot comes after NetEnt and FashionTV Gaming Group struck a partnership under which NetEnt will act as the exclusive licensor for the fashion brand. Red Tiger Gaming reportedly worked on the video slot’s technicalities and design elements.