What Happened To Bet-At-Home: UK Gambling License Suspended
If you tried to login to your bet-at-home account in the UK since the 7th July you might have noticed you can no longer place bets or deposit funds, new customers are also not being accepted. This is because the UKGC took the decision to suspend bet-at-home’s UK license on the basis of suspected social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings.
Bet-at-home were made aware of the suspension on Monday 4th July asking advertising partners to cease UK operations, the suspension came into force on Thursday 7th July.
The company is solvent and there is no risk to customer funds, you simply can no longer register, bet or deposit with them while they are suspended but you can login and withdraw funds as usual. Future and ante-post bets should settle as normal.
The news comes at a difficult time for the betting company from Austria, headquartered in Germany, who have struggled to recover from the covid pandemic with revenues downs over 50% in the first quarter of the year.
The suspension falls under section 118(2) of the Act, and will come into effect immediately.
Who Are Bet-At-Home?
Bet-at-home was founded by Jochen Dickinger and Franz Omer back in Austria 1999 and listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange in 2004. They are one of Germany’s biggest betting companies with offices in Germany and Gibraltar.
The brand is very European and didn’t enter the UK market until 2014 when they attained the gambling license that has now been suspended. Unlike other UK sites b-a-h did not try to pretend to be a British site, rather they they maintained a European outlook which made the site very unique in this country and was one reason it was well liked. One aspect included availability of many more European betting markets that are not easily accesses at UK sites.
The whole ethos of the brand was to be simple but effective, which is why the site looks like a harp back to the old days but in reality it is simple because it works. There was also a focus on honesty and clear terms, which is one reason why the current suspension is more of a shock than with other brands.
With around £50 million a year in revenue and over 250 employees the brand is not the biggest but is also not small fry either. They have managed to survive for nearly 25 years in an online market that has seen many of its competitors die away.
Why Was The License Suspended?
The news of the license suspension was largely unexpected as b-a-h have never really courted any previous controversy. The UKGC decision does not at this stage detail the exact reasons as to why the license was suspended but does say it relates to section 118(2) of the gambling act in relation to failings in social responsibility and anti-money laundering procedures.
Generally the UKGC will not suspend a license unless failings are an immediate danger to customers. It is likely that b-a-h had been warned about potential failings but had not acted sufficiently to rectify them resulting in the commission suspending the license. In most instances companies are warned and fined, especially in the first instance, so we can assume the failings were significant.
The license has not, however, been revoked, which means that the company have a chance to resolve these issues and demonstrate to the UKGC they have systems in place to prevent the issues happening again. Only at that point could the company apply for its license back.
Will They Get Their UK License Back?
There are two possible scenarios that b-a-h could follow here. The first would be to fix the issues that led to the license suspension, demonstrate they have fixed the problems and installed robust procedures to stop it happening again and then ask for their license to be reinstated. This would come with added conditions and b-a-h would likely be required to submit to regular reviews and submit data to the UKGC to show they are following the rules.
The second option would be for the group to surrender their UK gambling license and withdraw from the market. This would mean that b-a-h could no longer offer any betting services to UK customers in the future.
The option they take will depend on the size of their UK customer account base and whether it is worth it for the brand to undergo changes vs just leaving the market. Things are further complicated by a new incoming gambling review that will likely add further restrictions on gambling companies such as stake limits on casino games, possible loss limits, affordability checks and more customer monitoring and interaction. It is possible the costs and reduced revenue this will likely cause may tip b-a-h towards the option of leaving the UK permanently. Only time will tell.
Other Issues
The latest suspension comes at the end of a difficult couple of years for the brand that saw its sites temporarily shut down in their home market of Austria in 2021. Having operated there since 1999 they were in dispute with Austria’s national gambling regime that insisted its casino and poker products must be controlled by the national Casino Austria body. The group also faced challenged in their main market of Germany following introduction of the Fourth Interstate Gambling Treaty.
Recently bet-at-home projected that full year performance for 2022 would be improved following a 54% decline in revenues in Q1 of 2022 compared to 2021. The latest suspension by the UKGC may put a serious dent in those hopes.
Bet-at-home is certainly secure for now and are looking forward to a bounce back in the Netherlands where they have secured a license to operate. The decision to suspend their license in the UK, though, will certainly irk shareholders who have ridden out a difficult couple of years with the company.
