Through the agreement, GeoLocs will assist Jumpman and The Six Gaming to stay compliant with Ontario geolocation regulations as they operate in the Canadian province’s igaming market.

Kris Kukula, Director of The Six Gaming, stated: “It’s great to be able to offer our clients more choice when it comes to geolocation. GeoLocs is a great partner as the technology, knowledge, and expertise of the Canadian market are second to none. 

“We see mkodo as true partners, and we’re excited to work together to unlock value from our investment in their cutting-edge geolocation technology, which has enabled us to launch and operate in Ontario.”

Following an integration, the geolocation verification services’ solution will assist the operator with player location verification, while also providing an easy-to-use backend portal that allows self-management of geo-allow and disallow regions and areas.

No companion app or additional downloads are required to verify a user’s location before a bet is placed, creating a strong UX/UI experience for players.

“mkodo is delighted to be partnering with such a significant igaming business as The Six Gaming,” added Stuart Godfree, Managing Director at mkodo.

“We’re happy they’re on board and pleased that they are able to offer their clients our expert geolocation service as they enter into new markets across North America. We look forward to a successful partnership to come.”

Recently, mkodo has also provided Rootz and Casumo with geolocation services in Ontario.

The post mkodo’s GeoLocs partners with Jumpman <br> for The Six Gaming Ontario expansion appeared first on CasinoBeats.

One complaint was raised in each instance, with both parties involved told that the ads in question must not appear in their current form and reminded of future responsibilities.

Jumpman’s ‘Hey! Come Back!’ communication

One issue raised earlier in the year concerned consumers attempting to leave Jumpman’s site, which would bring up a camera symbol and the words ‘Hey! Come Back!’ in the open tab. 

It was challenged whether this was irresponsible due to the potential encouragement of harmful gambling behaviour.

In its response, Jumpman stated that just five per cent of its customer base accessed the site from desktop and would therefore see the message.

It was also said they “did not consider the message to be different to having the website name and logo visible on the tab. This, it was added, was due to there being no specific call to action.

The company also noted that the message was completely generic and did not target specific customers, and did not believe that it portrayed, condoned or encouraged any gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible or could lead to financial, social or emotional harm. 

“They said there were no references within the message that could be seen as exploiting the susceptibilities of anyone – for example, there were no deadlines which would cause undue urgency,” ASA’s ruling read.

“Lights Camera Bingo said they did not agree with the suggestion that an ad should not be served if an individual had left the website, in case they were vulnerable. 

“They said emails and text messages were typically sent when the recipient was not on the website that was being advertised. They did not believe that their messaging was any more enticing than ads they saw from other gaming operators.”

The ASA noted the message was non-paid-for space online under their control, however, due to it alerting consumers to return to a web page it was considered a marketing communication under the CAP code remit. 

“The message ‘Hey! Come Back!’ continued to flash for the duration that the tab remained opened and disappeared only when someone clicked to close the tab or went back onto the web page. We considered in that format, consumers’ attention would be drawn to seeing the message,” the advertising watchdog said.

Despite acknowledging that the message was intended to be an alert of an open tab, the ‘come back’ wording was deemed to be a call to action that would “strongly” encourage consumers to return.

“We also considered that particularly in the case of people who had a gambling problem or were recovering gambling addicts, the message could exploit the susceptibilities of vulnerable people,” it was added.

“We did not consider that the potential impact of such messaging was any less harmful because it only appeared on devices in certain circumstances, for a section of Lights Camera Bingo’s customer base.

It was concluded that the communication would encourage players to engage in gambling behaviour that could lead to financial, social or emotional harm and could exploit the susceptibilities of vulnerable people.

Jumpman were told that the ad must not appear again in this form, and were reminded to ensure that future communications were not likely to encourage irresponsible gambling behaviour that could lead to financial, social or emotional harm or exploit the susceptibilities of vulnerable people.

Ladbrokes penalised for second straight week

In addition, a pair of Ladbrokes tweets, one featuring Eddie Howe and another featuring various Premier League managers were next to leave odds, were challenged by the ASA itself as potentially having appeal to under-18s.

This is the second time in quick succession that the group has fallen foul of the ASA, with action taken last week for a tweet featuring Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. 

The operator explained that the first was editorial in nature and featured no calls to action, promotional offers or links directing consumers where they could place bets.

Data was also offered which suggested that of 22,182 impressions, zero percentage of the targeted audience was under 25 years of age.

The second was said to be commercial in nature, however, images of current managers were used “contrary to their guidance and standard procedure for commercially oriented content”.

In each case, the ASA noted that both the sport itself, and inclusion of certain imagery, were to be of strong appeal to under-18s.

“We acknowledged that the ads were targeted at over-25s, but because Twitter was a media environment where users self-verified on customer sign-up, and did not use robust age-verification, we considered that Ladbrokes had not excluded under-18s from the audience with the highest level of accuracy required for ads the content of which was likely to appeal strongly to under-18s,” it was noted.

The ads must also not appear again in their current form, with Ladbrokes told not to include people or characters who had strong appeal to those under 18 years of age in their advertising.

The post ASA upholds complaints against Jumpman Gaming & Ladbrokes appeared first on CasinoBeats.

In what is further praised as a “significantly expanded” UK footprint to be gained as a result of the agreement, FunFair is to take its gaming portfolio live across the group’s roster of online casino sites.

“FunFair Games offers a highly engaging and entertaining portfolio, and we are excited to partner with such a pioneer in this exciting vertical of non-traditional content,” stated Kris Kukula, Managing Director at Jumpman Gaming.

“We constantly look to strengthen our offering and provide players with new and unique products and FunFair Games ticks all the boxes.”

The latest in a string of commercial tie-ups entered into by FunFair will see the group’s entire roster of multiplayer and crash titles become available to the operator’s UK players, including Astroboomers to the Moon!, The Wheel of Steal, Five Ball Fiesta, Dig It and recently launched Hugo: Up and Away. The distribution was facilitated via its partner SlotMatrix. 

Carlo Cooke, Commercial Director at FunFair Games, added: “Partnering with Jumpman Gaming is a fantastic achievement for us and their reach in the UK allows us to get our games in front of as many eyes as possible.

“A well-established and trusted company, we are thrilled to be able to offer our portfolio to their customers in the UK, a key market for our future growth plans.”

Earlier this month, following the release of a maiden branded title in the Hugo: Up & Away crash game, CasinoBeats got the lowdown on a FunFair Games introduction that came about following a partnership with IP holder 5th Planet Games.

In the first of a two part special, Mark McGinley, CEO at FunFair Games, elaborated on the importance of partnering with well known brands, ensuring correct representation and if we can expect similar such moves going forward from the studio.

“Working on branded game titles is a very exciting avenue for us, and this is something we would definitely like to continue into the future, and who knows what the future holds, but we are not ruling out anything,” he said.

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This will see the former, which runs 243 websites, pay the lion’s share of £500,000, while Progress Play, which boasts 201 digital gambling entities, has been penalised $175,718.

Leanne Oxley, Gambling Commission Director of Enforcement and Intelligence, said: “We will always clamp down on operators who fail in their obligations to keep gambling safe and crime-free. 

“We encourage other operators to consider the failings identified in these cases carefully, and consider what improvements they can make in their own businesses.”

The inquiry into Jumpman Gaming, undertaken between February and July 2020, used a sample of customers that opened accounts during this period.

The regulatory review found failings in the implementation of anti-money laundering policies, procedures and controls, as well as deficiencies in its responsible gambling policies, procedures, controls and practices, including weaknesses in implementation.

The settlement consists of the aforementioned half a million pounds payment in lieu of a financial penalty that will be directed towards delivering the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.

Furthermore, an agreement to the publication of a statement of facts in relation to this case has also been issued, alongside a payment of £13,594.30 towards the Commission’s costs of investigating the case.

A review into Progress Play, which commenced on August 14, 2022, found failings in the group’s processes aimed at preventing money laundering and protecting vulnerable people

Taking into account remedial action taken by the group, a £175,718 payment in lieu of a financial penalty was issued. This will also be directed towards delivering the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.

Progress Play will also pay Commission costs of £12,466.35, and agree to the publication of a statement of the facts in relation to this case.

The post Jumpman Gaming & Progress Play receive £675,000 UKGC penalties appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Based on new games site integration technology, Jumpman Gaming will extend its portfolio with games built by the Playtech bingo games studio. 

“Providing a wide range of high-quality games for our customers is a key goal for our business,” commented Kris Kukula, managing director at Jumpman Gaming. “Working with Playtech from a technology and services perspective, the extension of our partnership to include a new range of bingo side game content is a significant step forward with this strategy. 

“Playtech’s renowned success as a content developer matches their reputation as a world leader in gaming technology, and we’re proud to be bringing some of the company’s best bingo side games to our customers.”

The initial set of nine games will include titles such as Fruity Burst, Tiki Paradise: Masks of Mayhem and titles from the Age of the Gods series.

“Playtech has a successful relationship with Jumpman Gaming, and we’re delighted to be extending that with our new content agreement,” commented Angus Nisbet, director of digital bingo at Playtech.

“As the first of our partners to launch content from the Playtech bingo games studio via our new integration option, Jumpman Gaming is continuing to lead the way on delivering a strong, varied content selection for its customers. We look forward to continuing to build and extend our partnership in this new phase.”

The development follows Playtech’s long mooted sale of its financial services division, Finalto, after entering into an agreement for the divestment with Gopher Investments for an enterprise value of $250m in cash.

The post Playtech adds bingo provision to Jumpman partnership appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Mirror Bingo was originally launched in 2008 and, after previously working with Cashcade and Playtech, migrated to and relaunched on the Jumpman platform this week.

Players accessing the entity can utilise 90, 80 and 75-ball bingo games, with tickets from 1p and guaranteed prizes and jackpots up to £1m, as well as a slots suite of more than 600 titles.

Encompassing games such as Starburst, Fluffy Favourites, Reel King, Rainbow Riches, in addition to over 40 slots games “with jackpots in the thousands of pounds,” further offerings including roulette, blackjack, baccarat and live casino are also available.

David Morris, network manager at Jumpman Gaming, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Reach, one of Britain’s biggest, most successful newspaper groups! Just like us, they are dynamic and seize new opportunities in a constantly moving environment and have the customer at the heart of everything they do. 

“We have launched three sites with them already – Star Wins, Express Wins and Mirror Bingo – with OK Bingo to follow shortly and we cannot wait to see what the future holds with this fantastic new relationship.”

This latest moves follows recent relaunches of the Star Wins and Express Wins entities, both of which had also previously closed two years ago.

Reach, which boasts an audience of over 45 million print and online readers, is to use its portfolio of newspapers and websites to promote products and generate awareness.

Mark O’Donnell, Reach’s head of betting and gaming, added: “Jumpman are a young, agile and very successful business in the gaming market, and their approach to player experience, enjoyment and loyalty really impressed us. 

“We’re delighted to launch Mirror Bingo with them, and also bring back old favourites Star Wins and Express Wins. Just like the media brands, each has a distinct style and audience which means we can welcome players of ages and interests”

The post Reach and Jumpman unite for Mirror Bingo relaunch appeared first on CasinoBeats.

Relating to terms and conditions which prevented players from “getting hold of their money in one go,” the CMA acknowledges the cooperation of both organisations throughout the process, which has seen a formal agreement of removal.

Players of both portals could be made to make withdrawals in installments over an extended period of time, which the CMA states “could lead some to gamble again where they might otherwise make a withdrawal”.

George Lusty, senior director for consumer protection at the CMA, explained: “People choosing to gamble online should be able to walk away with their own money whenever they want to.

“Jumpman Gaming and Progress Play are the first to commit to scrap their unfair withdrawal rules, but we expect companies across the sector to follow suit, so no-one gets caught out with unfair terms and conditions when gambling online.”

Both firms have agreed to stop using unfair terms, meaning money could be confiscated if no log-in had been made within a certain timeframe, whilst Progress Play has also agreed to not confiscate money if certain identity check rules are not met in a certain amount of time.

Detailing moves being made by Jumpman Gaming and Progess Play, the CMA stated in its media release “whilst companies need to be able to make appropriate and proportionate identity checks to help prevent money laundering and fraud, they cannot justify confiscating someone’s money simply because they do not provide information within a specific time frame.”

Changes made have also been welcomed by UK regulator the Gambling Commission, which states firms across the sector should apply similar such standards, and failure to do so could result in further action.

Paul Hope, executive director of the Gambling Commission, added: “We support the outcome of the CMA’s investigation, and we’re pleased that both of the operators involved have committed to making changes, that will make it fairer and simpler for customers to withdraw funds from their online gambling accounts.

“Gambling firms should not be placing unreasonable restrictions on when and how consumers can take money out of their accounts.

“We now expect all online operators to review the findings published by the CMA today and ensure they update their own practices.”

The CMA and Gambling Commission have been working to improve terms and conditions for online players, and to help ensure organisations do not break consumer protection law.

Amongst the help guides produced is a ‘60-second summary’ to help all gambling operators review their practices and ensure their terms and conditions are in line with consumer protection law, as well as ‘advice for gamblers’ and a short video guide for consumers.

Gambling Commission figures for 2016/17 valued the online gambling sector at £4.9bn, accounting for 34 per cent of all gambling.

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