Bet365 to pay SEK79m over protection failures in Sweden
The ruling comprises two separate penalties; SEK65.0m for Hillside Sports and an additional SEK14.0m for Hillside Gaming. Both Bet365 operations were also handed an official warning by the Swedish regulator.
Summarising the case, Spelinspektionen said Hillside Sports and Hillside Gaming failed to take “sufficient” measures to protect customers against excessive gambling, including not helping players reduce their gambling when there has been reason to do so.
Other failures related to how the operator allowed customers to play without having them set deposit limits, while the regulator also said Hillside Sports and Hillside Gaming failed to behave proactively in cases where a player’s behaviour was deemed problematic.
“In general, it has taken too long before the two companies took measures to prevent continued risky gambling,” said Spelinspektionen.
“We also noted that the original action plans lacked a description of what measures should be taken in the event of excessive gambling for young players (18-24 years) and for those who had previously been suspended.”
Bet365 Swedish consumer protection failures
Publishing certain examples of breaches identified during its investigation, Spelinspektionen, looking at a two-month period between 17 October 2021 to 17 December 2021, picked out a number of customer cases for both brands.
One player with Hillside Sports who had a daily or weekly limit of SEK1.0m and a monthly limit of SEK5.0m deposited money on 53 of the 62 audited days and lost SEK261,593.
Another customer lost SEK386,400 during the period after increasing their deposit limits. The player in question had only registered as a customer two days before the two-month audit period.
A third player with no deposit limits lost SEK259,372 in two months and placed a total of 240 bets. Spelinspektionen also noted that the customer played daily during four of the reviewed weeks.
Turning to Hillside Gaming, Spelinspektionen looked at the same two-month period and singled out a number of customers. In one case, a player lost SEK287,623 between the dates of 17 October and 27 November, having not set any deposit limits.
Another Hillside Gaming player, who had a deposit limit of SEK20,000 per week, SEK100,00 a week and SEK250,000 per month, made 61 deposits and lost a total of SEK73,730 in the audited period.
In addition, another customer with no deposit limits in place made 105 deposits during the set period and made just one withdrawal, losing SEK104,512 in the process.
The penalties come after Spelinspektionen this week also fined Flutter Entertainment-owned Betfair SEK4.0m for offering betting on football competitions not permitted by national law.
Spelinspektionen found Betfair offered bets on the U21 Allsvenskan, the youth-level football league. Swedish law only allows wagering on the four highest levels of league football in the country.