SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA) has praised the effective consumer protection measures of its members.
The statement follows the publication of a report by Big-4 auditor KPMG, commissioned by the Brussels trade body which evaluated consumer protection measures offered by various adult online services, including gambling.
The report saw KPMG undertake a review of six EGBA members, evaluating the five distinct consumer areas of: Know Your Customer (KYC), Data Protection, Anti-Money Laundering, Advertising and Consumer Safety.
Ensuring the research’s consistency, the information was gathered from bet365, Betsson, Entain, Flutter, Kindred Group and William Hill, and evaluates the operators’ terms of services offered in the regulated markets of Denmark and the UK.
The information gathered by members was compared against businesses offering adult online services in Denmark and the UK for financial services, dating, alcohol retail, esports and social media.
KYC comparisons saw all member websites carry out robust procedures on customer age and verification, noting that “all but one of the websites require proof of identity during account sign up”.
On Consumer Safety, all websites featured extensive safer gambling provisions, including the availability for customers to set loss limits, self-exclude, require a customer care check and to take-a-break from gaming.
KPMG further highlighted access to external information on safer gambling such as third-party safety tools and information on helplines.
All member websites had extensive data protection policies in place, including user access to data; data retention; data control; lawful basis for processing data; privacy policy and personal information processing
On Advertising, the report cited ‘one exception’, as members’ websites clearly stated that personal data is used to provide targeted and tailored product recommendations.
Positives saw four websites clearly indicated opt-out functionalities when communicating with customers.
AML was noted as the most contrasting criteria of the report, which saw little consistency across sectors.
KPMG noted: “The alcohol retailers, e-Sports and social media firms appear to make no mention of AML anywhere in their terms and conditions on the websites of either jurisdiction. Given the nature of the services being provided, this is not outside of expected parameters.”
Member websites offer detailed AML practices. However, the websites of two companies had only a moderate amount of information available in respect to their AML practices on their websites.
Providing AML improvements, KPMG advised all online service providers to inform customers that client data can be used by businesses to prevent and detect fraud and other illegal activities.
EGBA Secretary General Maarten Haijer, commented: “We welcome the report and its findings, which offers a valuable barometer of the level of consumer protection offered by our members.
“The purpose of the report is to check how EGBA member companies sit within the bigger world of online services in terms of the consumer protections they offer. The findings clearly show that EGBA members have a high commitment to offering their customers a high standard of consumer protection.”
