Betsson to appeal €2m fine in Sweden

The iGaming operator’s subsidiary Betsson Nordic will appeal a €2m fine over unauthorised sales and promotions in Sweden.

Sweden.- Betsson Nordic will appeal against a SEK20million (€2million) fine issued by Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen. 

The regulator issued the fine and a warning to Betsson Nordic for selling games through an unregistered agent and for promoting an unauthorised bonus offer.

It said Betsson had permitted customers to fund accounts using retail vouchers through a partnership with Pressbyrån and 7-Eleven stores.

Spelinspektionen said that since the retailers were not registered with the regulator, Betsson had offered games via “unregistered agents.”

They also wrapped the operator for offering players illegal bonuses via a Betsson-branded Mastercard, which launched in March 2019. 

Sweden’s iGaming regulations only allow operators to offer a bonus incentive of up to SEK100, and only when customers first sign-up with an operator.

Spelinspektionen said: “Betsson Nordic Ltd has, via the Betsson Mastercard, offered benefits that were available to its players during the period March 2019 to March 2020. 

“The gaming inspectorate considers that the benefits constitute a discount or financial incentive that has a direct link to gaming.

“The benefits associated with the card were not being limited to the first occasion when a player plays on any of the licensee’s games. 

“The inspectorate finds there have been several serious violations of, among other things, gaming liability regulations, and that the violations have been going on for a relatively long time, between six and twelve months.”

Betsson has confirmed it will appeal against the fine. It said the Mastercard was launched to improve the payment process for players, was approved by Sweden’s financial regulator Finansinspektionen, and was not intended to provide bonus offers for players.

It argued the use of vouchers launched in a deal with a convenience card was common practice for highstreet retailers. 

Meanwhile, Spelinspektionen has said it does not believe it will meet the deadline set by the Swedish government to impose new deposit limits on online gambling.

The government originally wanted the limits in place by the start of June but pushed the date back to July 2 after Spelinspektionen said it would be difficult and time-consuming to implement.

Now the regulator has said it does not see that date as feasible either and expects the government to put the date back again.

This week iGaming operators put forward as series of alternative proposals as they continue to call for the government to drop the proposed deposit limits.