Norway to survey banks on payment block

Norway’s regulator will survey banks to check how well they are enforcing the country’s block on payments to offshore gambling sites. 

Norway.- The regulator, Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet (Lotteritilsynet), will survey 170 banks to investigate the effectiveness of its regulations on blocking payments to offshore gambling sites.

It will also ask how banks are communicating the issue with customers.

The survey will be anonymised to avoid any fear of action being taken against banks based on their responses. 

Norway first passed a ban on processing payments to offshore gambling sites in 2010, but late last year the regulator admitted that up to around NOK6billion (€559.7million) in transactions were still being processed for unlicensed offshore operators.

Changes were made at the start of this year to give the regulator powers to order banks to halt transactions.

The new survey to be conducted over the next few weeks aims to clarify whether the payments ban has become more effective since the introduction of the new powers, and in the case that it hasn’t what other measures could be taken to ensure offshore operators are blocked from the market.

It will also investigate how banks communicate the block on payments to customers.

Lotteritilsynet senior advisor, Silje Sægrov Amble, said: “We will use these insights to limit illegal gambling offerings. Based on the information gathered, we will come up with measures that prevent and reduce the damage caused by gambling problems.

“We also want to find out what contact the banks have with customers who play at foreign illegal gaming companies, and how the banks inform about the payment ban that stops the banks from paying cash premiums.”

Lotteritilsynet recently took further steps to lock offshore gambling operators out of the closed Norwegian market by giving the Norwegian Media Authority (Medietilsynet) the power to order television channels and internet service providers to block advertisements from foreign gambling companies. 

Meanwhile, six members of Norway’s Progress Party have called on the government to reject a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to impose a NOK20,000 (€1,866) monthly loss limit on horse racing monopoly Norsk Rikstoto from January 2021.

The change would bring horse racing in line with the lottery monopoly Norsk Tipping.

Norsk Rikstoto said the change would harm professional bettors and instead suggested a 90-day rolling loss limit of NOK60,000 from which winnings from the previous 365 days would be deducted, plus the creation of 200 “professional bettor licences” exempting players that meet certain criteria 

The group of members said: “Fighting gambling addiction is an important priority for society, and the vast majority of players at Norsk Rikstoto have introduced maximum limits for themselves that are equal to or lower than the limit used by Norsk Tipping.

“However, the introduction of a loss limit at Norsk Rikstoto will hit a segment of 100 to 200 high-level players who can be said to operate in a professional manner, similar to equity managers, within their own financial framework and capacity.

“As a result of the amounts involved, these players make an important contribution to Norwegian Rikstoto and Norwegian equestrian sport as a whole.”