SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has once again asked customers to be aware of illegal websites as some have been found to be offering easily accessible deposits.
An investigation by the Observer revealed that a total of 10 unlicensed online gambling providers available to UK customers had incorporated Mastercard and Visa payments into their websites.
According to the investigation, several UK players had already fallen victim to the unregulated offering, losing thousands of pounds by being obstructed from withdrawing their winnings.
This is not surprising, given the fact that the black market lacks the safeguards against scams and financial fraud that regulated operators in the UK are required to adhere to as part of their licence conditions.
Referencing the illegal websites highlighted by the Observer, a spokesperson for the UKGC said: “We are aware of these websites and continue to take action to disrupt the unlicensed market, including working with online platforms and with payment providers.
“Anyone gambling on unlicensed sites is supporting illegal activity and putting themselves at risk. Your financial data could be stolen, harvested or misused and you may not even be paid out if you win.
“These sites support crime and won’t have the standards or safeguards we insist on such as providing self-exclusion or looking out for and tackling gambling related harm. Consumers can easily check if a site is licensed by searching the business register on our website.”
The choice is yours
Generally, payment options are one of the most important factors for players when choosing an online gambling platform. This has been an integral part of operators’ customer acquisition strategies for quite some time now.
Whether it’s PayPal, digital wallets, or debit cards – there’s something for everyone.
In the words of Martyn Hannah, Managing Director of Comparasino: “There are tens of thousands of bettors and players each month searching for sportsbooks and casinos based on the payment methods available in the cashier, and the speed at which payouts are processed.
“These are players who like to receive a welcome offer, but it’s not the driving force behind their decision to sign up for a brand or not. Instead, they are looking to see if their preferred payment option is available – if it is, they are highly likely to sign up, play and (so long as the overall experience is good) stay.”
However, as the Observer pointed out, it’s not only operators working under the regulatory spotlight who are taking notice of this trend. There are also those operating in the shadows of the black market.
Mastercard and Visa are the world’s two biggest card schemes – internationally offered by many merchants, with companies called acquirers often providing the bridge between merchants and the duo’s networks.
Because of Mastercard’s and Visa’s international reach and accessibility, the networks have great appeal for the end consumer who is looking for eased payments accessibility and convenience.
Keeping this in mind, it is not hard to see why the illegal websites would display the two companies as options – they are looking to expand their customer base as much as possible.
However, it’s not exactly Mastercard nor Visa who are directly handling the payments. The Observer noted that deposits were actually being facilitated by a third party – a payment acquirer under the name PaymentIQ, which is owned by French payment service provider Worldline.
This is a widely-used practice among black market operators, which makes payments go through as much processing as possible – essentially improving their chances of being approved.
What’s next?
Payment service providers (PSPs) like Mastercard and Visa are not legally obliged to inspect whether a gambling provider that is using their services is licensed or not.
The companies instead expect the acquirers they work with to carry out due diligence and enter into merchant partnerships based on strict standards. Both Mastercard and Visa have guidelines for acquirers around this, such as the latter’s Visa Integrity Risk Programme.
While this significantly limits the UKGC’s ability to directly go against the above-mentioned websites, it can potentially still resort to a drastic but guaranteed-to-be-effective measure.
This entails the authority officially warning regulated gaming suppliers, or game aggregators, that their UK license could be revoked if they fail to remove their gaming portfolios from the illegal platforms.
Currently, FatPirate – the website that the above screenshot is from – offers games developed by companies like Swintt, Spinomenal, Evoplay, Novomatic, and Habanero. These are all well-known players on the UK market.
