On June 12, the government proposed a new, broader plan to stop gambling store operators and online providers from accepting credit card payments from customers.

An existing Swedish ban already stops license-holding gaming firms from allowing customers to bet using the firms’ own credit lines.

Credit Card Gambling Bans Imminent in Sweden and Other EU States?

Sweden’s proposal would stop firms from accepting credit cards “if it is immediately apparent that the payment is a credit card payment.”

Furthermore, the measure would block players from entering into credit agreements with third parties (such as loan providers) when playing online games.

Sweden’s Finance Minister Niklas Wykman spoke about the bill, claiming that it could come into force in April next year. He stated that citizens “simply should not bet with borrowed money.”

The country’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, also supports the expansion of existing credit ban measures.

Policy Discussions Underway

Lawmakers in other EU nations have also been working to restrict credit card gambling or issue blanket bans.

Nos reported in November last year that a cross-party group of Dutch MPs launched a private member’s bill that proposes a total ban on all credit card-powered gambling in the Netherlands.

The move came a month after Irish lawmakers voted in favor of a new gambling bill. The law forbids the use of credit cards for betting, the Journal reported in October 2024.

Elsewhere in Europe, the UK government was the first pioneer of credit card bans. The country completely banned credit card use in the gambling space on April 14, 2020.

British regulators claimed that 22% of credit card-using online gamblers were addicted to placing bets.

Policymakers and gaming regulators elsewhere in the EU have also debated proposals to ban credit card gambling.

Several policy papers have been launched in Germany, France, Spain, and Belgium. In many of these nations, credit card providers have already been ordered to block bets from problem gamblers. They also restrict younger citizens or people who lose over 600 euros ($692) per week from placing credit card bets.

However, while member states continue to push toward gambling credit card bans or stricter limits, Brussels looks unlikely to get involved.

Bloc-wide Ban Not Likely?

The EU has no standardized laws for the gambling sector. EU member states are essentially autonomous in their regulatory efforts.

Per its website, the European Commission “supports EU countries’ efforts to modernise their national online gambling legal frameworks, in particular in the framework of administrative cooperation between gambling regulatory authorities.”

The EC has not made any meaningful statements to date on credit card gambling bans. Instead, it has historically focused its energy on ensuring member states have regulations in place that block minors from accessing gambling sites.

Last month, the Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria claimed that the imminent adoption of the euro would help fight the rise of illegal gambling and money laundering.

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The budget – which curbs the administration’s spending plans somewhat, lowering Italy’s 2019 deficit target from 2.4 per cent to 2.04 per cent – now passes to the lower house for final approval.

The legislation seeks to increase taxation on various types of gambling activities. Tax on AWP gaming machines and video lottery terminals will rise from January 1, while there are also increases in betting tax, to 20 per cent, and online gaming tax to 24 per cent.

In a statement, Playtech said it currently estimates that this is expected to reduce its 2019 Adjusted EBITDA by “approximately €20-25 million” before any mitigating actions.

The expected impact from this legislation is in addition to the previously announced impact from the 2018 Dignity Decree, the company said.

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It’s a casino that has struggled in recent times and has had to endure a significantly debt-ridden period that Kretinsky will look to turn around as he embarks the firm on a restructuring process. 

The move by Kretinsky has been cited as saving the struggling casino, which has warned it is likely to report losses in its latest set of results. 

As a result of the deal, the current chairman of Sparta Prague, who was once touted to buy West Ham, will take up and control 53.7 per cent of the retailer casino as he seeks to return it to profitability. 

The decision of the EU also likely brings to a close the longstanding tenure of 74-year-old Jean-Charles Naouri, who has enjoyed 30 years as leader. 

Furthermore, the online market in France is at something of a crossroads, as many have underlined the importance of a competitive, regulated market in combating unlicensed operators. 

A recent study detailed that play on illegal casinos equals around €748m and €1.5bn in GGR, with as many as three million French players engaging with black market sites. 

The study, which was commissioned by the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), detailed that the illegal market represents between five and 10 per cent of the overall legal gambling market in France.

CasinoBeats Breakdown: The news that Kretisnky is edging closer will be welcomed by the sector in France, with the Czech billionaire set to invest significant amounts into the venue as he looks to enable it to once again thrive after a challenging economic period.

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In the midst of many headlines regarding the misuse of consumer data, the EGBA is pleading for Brussels to bring countries together and better protect Europe’s citizens in an increasingly online world.

In his message, Maarten Haijer, secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, states: “Much of this is the result of regulations struggling to keep pace with the internet’s rapid, cross-border, and technological development.

“There is no doubt this technological step-change has raised questions about where the rights of consumers, the interests of online businesses, and good regulation can intersect harmoniously. I recognise these challenges. 

“The internet revolution has moved my own sector — betting — from traditional side-street bookmaker shops into the computers of millions of customers, just overnight. Today more than 12 million Europeans regularly bet online, conducting nearly one million financial transactions to and from our member companies each day. We are, some would say, ‘a big sector.’ 

“And with 20 percent of Europe’s betting now online, we know only too well the challenges of reconciling rapid technological change with consumer protection and effective regulation.”

In an era where people can place a bet on websites based in other countries, the EGBA is emphasising the ease of which consumers can become exposed to websites that don’t fully protect their rights or interests.

Pleading for every state to create a national self-exclusion register, Haijer went on to say: “Only 14 EU countries have adopted a national self-exclusion register, and only 13 require ‘no underage betting’ signs on advertisements. 

“These are simple measures proposed by the commission, yet they haven’t been introduced in most European countries. Parallel to this, the commission has disbanded a national expert group it facilitated. 

“The group, made up of national betting regulators, was considered a great success and a valuable platform for exchanging best practices and information between countries.

“There is now no formal framework for betting regulators to jointly tackle the big issues affecting the sector, many of which are cross-border in nature and require common solutions.” 

Concluding: “In online betting there is a need to ensure customers can bet in a safe, fair and responsible way. This means ensuring that people living in one EU country have the same rights and high level of consumer protection as those living in another. 

“Greater regulatory cooperation and better enforcement of existing EU initiatives and laws will go some way toward achieving this. Making the single market work better for those citizens who bet online will require even higher standards than those applied to other online sectors. 

“But leaving it up to EU countries alone has not worked, so the incoming European commission needs to act.”

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Moving to implement its new gaming act, a strengthening of regulatory compliance via a number of internal and external initiatives was highlighted, as well as striving to bolster anti-money laundering supervision.

Placing a strong focus on effective enforcement, the MGA issued 16 notices of reprimand, 73 notices of breach, suspended four licences and cancelled eight during the period, as well as handing out 139 fines to operators following various regulatory breaches.

Furthermore, via its fit and proper committee 63 individuals or companies were deemed to be unsuitable for a licence, or for a significant role in a licensee, with 209 applications for a licence received and 93 subsequently issued, with the remaining ones still going through the acceptance process.

During the year the MGA generated a total revenue of €75.2m, a 14 per cent increase year-on-year from €66.3m, with contributions in gaming taxes up 16 per cent to €63.2m (2017: €54.5m).

Looking ahead, a reinforcement of compliance, risk and enforcement functions is stressed, as well as maintaining growth in line with the global industry, with it highlighted that gaming is now the third-largest productive sector in Malta, as its share in the economy edged up to approximately 13 per cent.

Heathcliff Farrugia, chief executive officer of the Malta Gaming Authority, explained: “2018 was a remarkable year for the authority, predominantly because of the coming into force of the new law on the 1 August 2018. 

“The new framework strengthened the MGA’s supervisory role, specifically in the areas of compliance and enforcement, enabling it to focus efforts on areas which present a higher risk profile.

“The new regulatory regime has also been pivotal in ensuring the authority could become more agile in its decision-making.

“Last year was also the year when Malta adopted the EU’s fourth anti-money laundering directive, which saw online gaming companies in Malta becoming obliged entities for the first time. This was challenging, both for licensees and the MGA, which together with the FIAU, started conducting onsite AML inspections.

“In 2019, the MGA’s focus will be that of consolidating what has been built so far, and continue building on its regulatory powers, to ensure holistic regulatory oversight focusing on the integrity of market participants and the protection of consumers, whilst also embracing technological innovation without prejudicing the attainment of its regulatory objectives.”

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Earning the commendations of Gibraltar, especially in the face of a multi-million pound Maltese relocation outlined by online gambling operator bet365 due to Brexit concerns, Virgin Bet stresses that it maintains faith in the region despite such issues.

The Government has congratulated the firm on its successful application for a new gambling licence and subsequent launch in the UK market this week, with the sports wagering supplier powered by the SBTech platform, who deployed a bespoke front-end interface.

Albert Isola, minister for commerce, explained: “We maintain that Gibraltar is a leading jurisdiction from which to operate a remote gambling business. A large number of existing operators, despite Brexit challenges, continue to maintain faith in the jurisdiction, and this is shown by the increase in start-up businesses aimed both at the UK and non-EU international jurisdictions.”

Virgin Bet investors and managers also went into further detail regarding the decision to launch the business from Gibraltar, which sees existing offices, staff and technical infrastructure already located in the region.

It is stated that the decision to choose the area follows years of successful operations with other ventures, in addition to it being “the only jurisdiction that has guaranteed market access to the UK in the event of the UK and Gibraltar leaving the EU”.

Simon Mizzi, Gamesys’ Gibraltar marketing director, commented: “We’re excited to launch Virgin Bet into the world’s most competitive sportsbook market, and we feel that Gibraltar is the perfect location for us to base our operations.”

Adding earlier in the week upon its UK launch: “We’re excited to launch Virgin Bet into the world’s most competitive sportsbook market. We believe the Virgin brand has the ability to help change the industry for the better, and we look forward to giving our customers the experience we feel they deserve.”

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Issuing the call as many around the continent head to the polls, between Thursday 23 May and Sunday 26 May, the EGBA stresses that the incoming European Parliament and Commission need to act in the online gambling sector.

The Brussels-based industry body states that with online betting now representing more than 20 per cent of the EU gambling market, “the lack of common EU rules for online betting is jeopardising players safety when they play online”.

Furthermore, the EGBA points to EU countries having different rules for regulating online gambling, with there being “significant disparities in the quality of these national regulations,” including the consumer protections available to online gamblers.

This was compounded by a recent study undertaken by the City University of London, which found that Europeans are not being afforded the appropriate and necessary protections for online gambling, after it was found that all EU member states, except Denmark, have not fully implemented consumer guidelines.

It was also suggested that due to the lack of common online gambling regulations, a failure to protect Europe’s players from often bogus and unsupervised websites operated from outside the jurisdiction also exists.

Maarten Haijer, secretary general of the EGBA, explained: “In 2019, there’s no reason why online gamblers living in one member country should be less protected than those living in another – but they are.

“That’s why EGBA is calling for common EU rules and better regulatory cooperation to ensure a more consistent and better standard of protection for all Europe’s online gamblers, including access to a national self-exclusion register and protection against threats from outside the EU.”

The EGBA has also outlined a number of calls made in its most recent manifesto, including new policies to take in recent digital developments such as blockchain and artificial intelligence, the reinstatement of an expert group and national gambling authorities and further standardisation of national technical requirements for the industry, ranging from IT and auditing to anti-money laundering reporting.

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As Prime Minister Theresa May puts her deal before the House of Commons for a third time, the EGBA states that this option represents the best to ensure there is no disruption to cross-border payments between the UK and EU countries, which it stresses “would affect many online sectors including online gambling”.

Maarten Haijer, secretary general of the EGBA, explained: “The continuing uncertainty of the Brexit discussions is not good. Like many other economic sectors affected by the UK’s departure from the EU, the online gambling sector would welcome greater clarity on the EU-UK’s future relationship.

“Online gambling is an inherently cross-border sector, so we would prefer the UK to stay within the single market, or at least as closely aligned as possible. This would also prevent any disruption to ancillary services, such as cross-border payments.”

Haijer has also commented on a new bill approved in Ireland, which would see the creation independent gambling regulator, in addition to proposing a number of other changes to its gambling framework.

Approving the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill earlier in the month, the Irish Cabinet states that the new legislative package is designed to regulate gambling activity in the country, including for the online sector.

Welcoming government moves to establish a regulatory authority for gambling, Haijer commented:“We welcome the Irish government’s publication of a bill to introduce a regulatory authority for gambling, the implications of which we will carefully study.

“Ireland is one of only two remaining EU countries who do not currently have some form of regulation for online gambling. It is in the interests of everyone to have a well-regulated online gambling market which protects Irish players.

“We look forward to the discussions on the bill. For any new law to be a success it should be supported by a multi-license system, which ensures a competitive and attractive market for Ireland’s online gamblers and has adequate safeguards to protect them.”

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Following a meeting in Brussels, the EGBA has stressed the importance of the European Commission and Parliament to focus on ensuring the single market rules are better implemented and enforced to benefit European consumers, particularly in the online environment.

Welcoming “timely and justified” conclusions, the group gas states that “despite the digital single market being high up the political agenda over the past years, it has not been sufficiently developed to enable Europe’s citizens to benefit from the full potential of a truly functional and integrated online single market”.

Citing recent research, it was further emphasised that “making the digital single market work for EU citizens who bet or play poker online is crucial – because today they are less well protected than a person who buys a plane ticket or a book online”.

A recent study by the City University of London attributed Europe’s failure to protect online gamblers to the highly fragmented nature of the national policy rules for online gambling.

It showed that the digital single market is failing to protect online gamblers, and found that only one country has fully implemented the commission’s guidelines, aimed at providing EU citizens a basic set on consumer protection measures dedicated to responsible gambling.

Maarten Haijer, secretary general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, explained: “It is 2019: If the EU is really serious about making the digital single market work for its consumers, then the Commission should enforce EU law in all online sectors, including online gambling.

“We call on the Commission to fulfil its task as the Guardian of the Treaties by enforcing EU law in the whole online environment. 

“The Commission should also reinstate the regulatory cooperation between member states in online gambling, to allow structured dialogue and help improve cross-border cooperation and the protection of consumers. It is time for the Commission to act.”

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Regulated online casino has been legal and regulated in New Jersey since November 2013. Since then, the market has grown steadily to generate upwards of $30m each month.

While this is undoubtedly impressive, it could be argued that the market has the potential to be even larger, and without the huge boost received following the legalisation of sports betting in 2018.

Of course, there are several reasons why the New Jersey online casino market has been slow to get going, particularly issues of consumer education.

But, approaching six years since legalisation, most in the Garden State understand that online casino is legal and regulated and that they can access sites.

This means operators must look a little more closely at their brands and at the games, products and services they are offering players if they are to maximise growth.

That said, they can learn a lot from online casino operators and sites in established regulated markets such as the UK and Sweden.

Here are five key takeaways for New Jersey operators:

GAME PORTFOLIOS MUST BE VARIED

Players have come to expect access to a huge range of games when playing at an online casino. This includes video slots, classic slots, jackpot slots, table games, instant-win scratchcards and live dealer.

The most comprehensive portfolios prioritise quantity over quality – although players do seek choice – with titles from a mix of developers and studios.

This includes the established powerhouses like Microgaming, Scientific Games and IGT, as well as the Scandinavia heavyweights NetEnt, Yggdrasil and Quickspin.

It is also important to include games from emerging developers and those that deliver unique mechanics and never-seen-before features.

JACKPOT GAMES NEED TO TAKE CENTRE-STAGE

Jackpot games are among the most spun slots in established markets, such as the UK. They deliver the fun and excitement of a standard slot, but with the added thrill of offering a potentially life-changing win.

Their popularity has seen operators create separate jackpot tabs and run promotions around games with big prize pools up for grabs.

Some operators are even creating dedicated tabs around different jackpot games, especially those that pay out before a predetermined time of day or prize pool is reached.

“Casinos that offer bonuses with low wagering requirements are increasingly popular with players“

CONSIDER BONUSES WITH LOWER STAKES

Players are more savvy today than they have ever been, and most now fully understand that the majority of bonuses and promotions come with T&Cs and wagering requirements.

It is now common for players to forgo bonuses and play with their own money as they are put off by significant play-throughs.

As a result, casinos that offer bonuses with low or no wagering requirements are becoming increasingly popular with players.

GAMIFICATION IS THE KEY TO LOYALTY

The key to driving loyalty no longer lies in points-based schemes. Operators that launch innovative programs where players complete tasks, earn trophies and clear levels to earn prizes are the ones enjoying the highest retention rates.

Some European operators have really gone to town in this regard, with loyalty schemes straight out of the video-games world.

It is also important to allow players to monitor their progress with tracking bars and wheels to keep them engaged and playing.

Operators should also think about the prizes that players receive, and again whether they come with any wagering requirements or not.

FIVE-STAR CUSTOMER SUPPORT UNDERPINS EVERYTHING

None of the above matters if online casino operators do not offer the best customer support to players. This really can make or break a casino.

Agents must be contactable via email and live chat 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Telephone is also a great way of building player trust. In addition, agents need to be friendly, professional and highly knowledgeable.

Customer support can be often neglected by operators, but, in reality, is should be an absolute priority.

By following these five simple steps, online casino operators in New Jersey – and across America, as the market continues to open up – will be able to drive rapid growth.

A version of this article first appeared on SBC Americas

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