Concerns over the management of customer interactions have prompted the recent suspension of EveryMatrix’s B2C license in the United Kingdom, the company said in a statement issued on Friday.
It emerged on Thursday that the UK Gambling Commission has decided to suspend the white label remote casino and betting operations of the gambling software company and that it has instigated a review of those operations under Section 116 of UK’s Gambling Act of 2005.
In a statement issued early Friday, EveryMatrix confirmed that its B2C license was suspended, but did not provide any further information on what had caused the Gambling Commission’s actions.
Later that day, EveryMatrix explained in a separate statement that the license suspension had to do with how the company manages its customer interactions.
Customer Interactions Concerns
EveryMatrix further pointed out that its license would remain suspended until it can demonstrate to the UK gambling watchdog that it has taken the necessary steps to ensure that its white label B2C operations are fully compliant with the social responsibility obligations it must follow under the terms of its license.
As a condition of their licenses, UK-facing online gambling operators are required to comply with recently updated and strengthened KYC policies. These involve monitoring gamblers for suspicious gambling patterns that can suggest a gambling-related problem or addiction and intervening when necessary to prevent customers from sustaining significant material and non-material losses.
UK-licensed operators are also required to be able to identify the sources of their customers’ finances when suspicious movements of funds occur.
An Opportunity to Strengthen Compliance Procedures
EveryMatrix said that it sees the review of its UK B2C license “an opportunity to strengthen its compliance processes and procedures.” The company went on that it has already taken “effective actions” to address the UK regulator’s concerns in a swift manner.
EveryMatrix also clarified that the suspension of its license was based on a general evaluation of its processes and procedures rather than “specific cases of player complaints” and that it is not related to “failing a technical audit of the software, and as such, the B2B license in UK has not been suspended.”
The license suspension affected EveryMatrix’s bookee.co.uk, pwrbet.com, fantasino.com, playfrank.com, sportingindex.com, westcasino.com, dragonaraonline.com, jetbull.com, mrwin.com, and casinomulti.com casino and betting websites. The company said that existing UK customers of those websites will be able to access their accounts and withdraw their funds at any time during the suspension period.
What Does the Recent License Suspensions Mean?
EveryMatrix was the second online gambling business to have its license suspended by the Gambling Commission in recent weeks. Last month, the regulator suspended the license of Russian bookmaker 1xBet, which operated in the UK under a white label agreement with FSB Technology (UK) Limited.
The recent license suspensions suggest that the Gambling Commission is changing its ways and aside from hefty fines, it will now punish errant licensees with the inability to operate in the lucrative UK market. It could also be said that the regulator has now focused its attention on cracking down on any irregularities happening within the white label sector.
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