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BOS Claims Swedish Banking Institutions Have Suspended Services Provided to Licensed Gambling Operators

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Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary-general of the Swedish trade association Branscheforenigen för Onlinespel (BOS), has claimed that all of the country’s major banking institutions have suspended services they provide to licensed gambling operators.

BOS said that “all major Nordic banks” – including SEB, Swedbank, Nordea, Handelsbanken, DNB Nor and Danske Bank – stopped providing services to Swedish-licensed gambling operators at some point this year.

Claiming this is in violation of Swedish law, Hoffstedt has filed a complaint to the country’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).

Most of these banks, Hoffstedt said, cited internal risk assessments or Sweden’s Anti-Money Laundering Act (PTL) as the reasons for account closures. The BOS secretary-general added that “in some cases the banks have not stated any reason at all”.

“As far as I am aware, no concrete justification for the dismissals and banks’ assessment has been provided in any case,” Hoffstedt said.

Hoffstedt added that gambling operators cannot function without banking services.

“Online gambling companies are, as stated above, dependent on basic financial infrastructure in the form of banking and payment services to conduct their business,” he explained. “This requires [them] to be able to store customers’ funds as well as receive deposits and make payments to customers.”

He added that the suspension of services meant that operators could no longer use Bank-ID, used to verify players’ identities. This meant they had lost access to a tool that was vital for fighting fraud and money laundering, Hoffstedt.

“Without access to the Bank-ID system, online gambling companies need to use alternative solutions to identify their customers. These solutions risk being neither as effective for companies nor as safe for users,” he explained.

Swedish Banks also provide the Swish payment service, which Hoffstedt said was also “very important” for operators.

Hoffstedt said that the banks’ decisions had worsened operating conditions for the country’s igaming licensees, as well as counteracting the goals of the Gambling Act.

He went as far as arguing that the actions were illegal.

Hoffstedt said banks have a contractual obligation to continue to provide banking services to these customers, unless there is a clear reason to break this agreement. Only in incidents where continuing to provide banking services would violate the PTL, or if the banking customer had committed misconduct, could agreements be broken, he claimed.

While Hoffstedt noted that banks may terminate agreements if they suspect a customer has connections to money laundering, he pointed out the PTL made clear that these assessments are at the customer level. They can, therefore, not be applied on a sweeping basis to a legal industry.

“Given that a large proportion of BOS members also received notice or notice of termination from the banks – all with general and overarching references to the risk of money laundering in the business – it seems obvious that the basis for the dismissals is a general business policy decision rather than a valid application of PTL,” he said.

“Under these circumstances, there is no possibility for the banks to deviate from their contractual obligation.”

BOS requested a dialogue with the Financial Supervisory Authority and said the regulator “should initiate a supervisory investigation of the banks’ handling and possibly intervene against the banks”.

SEB – one of the banks mentioned by BOS – however, argued it was not systematically ending relationships with gambling operators but rather examined the risk for every client on an individual basis.

“We always make an individual assessment of individual client relationships,“ SEB said. “When it comes to gambling companies, we generally have a cautious approach based on the raised risk level, not least connected to risks relating to money laundering and financial crime.”

Danske Bank, meanwhile, denied it had a policy specifically preventing gambling businesses from operating, but did say these businesses undergo a stricter screening process.

“Danske Bank does not exclude banking services for gambling operations as such,” Danske Bank said. “However, our assessment is that the gambling industry in general is associated with high risk and due to that we have tailored screening principles to ensure that the companies operate responsibly.

“In a case where a specific gambling client does not meet the requirements of our KYC-process or ESG-assessment, the ultimate consequence could be that we limit our offerings or refrain from enter into a business relationship.”

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Firesand launches Firesand Shield to combat rise in iGaming account fraud attacks

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Firesand, a leader in iGaming security services and software, has developed a cutting-edge Anti-Account Fraud solution to safeguard iGaming operators and platform providers from escalating credential-based cyber threats.

Firesand Shield is a best-in-class product that has been designed to address the growing complexity of account fraud that has impacted the global iGaming industry in recent times, which in some cases has resulted in loss of business, damaged reputation and regulatory fines. Common examples of account fraud include credential stuffing, dictionary attacks, and common password exploitation.

The new solution provides proactive, intelligent detection and prevention against the full spectrum of account compromise techniques, without relying on user-disruptive CAPTCHAs or blunt blocking mechanisms, to ensure the end user experience remains uninterrupted.

Unlike legacy or bot-only detection tools, Firesand Shield leans on the company’s specialism as a penetration testing service provider to focus on attack patterns, regardless of whether the source is human, bot, or hybrid, offering unmatched insight and agility in protecting operator user accounts and platform integrity. It includes in-depth attack analysis and reporting to provide greater transparency and clarity over the source of each security vulnerability.

With a product upgrade roadmap that includes geolocation anomaly detection, VPN usage analysis, and AI-powered behavioural profiling, Firesand Shield is set to offer operators and platforms significant peace of mind to stay ahead of security threats as they evolve.

Chris Blake, Director at Firesand, said: “Account fraud is a growing threat to the global iGaming industry. There have been multiple cases in the previous year alone where user data has been breached, leading to a detrimental impact for businesses targeted.

Firesand Shield has been designed to support operators and platform providers of all sizes to sharpen their security capabilities as these attacks become more common and sophisticated. Underpinned by our superior iGaming security excellence, we are well positioned to further strengthen online systems on a global scale.”

With a proven track record of developing bespoke security platforms for a range of industries, Firesand brings unmatched credibility and expertise to the iGaming space, combining technical solutions with practical, actionable defence capabilities for high-risk digital environments.

The post Firesand launches Firesand Shield to combat rise in iGaming account fraud attacks appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Betano Teams up with FIFA as Official Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ for South America

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Betano, a leading online sports betting brand owned by Kaizen Gaming, is today announcing a new partnership as it becomes Official Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ for South America.

Following a successful collaboration for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM, Betano and FIFA are once again joining forces to excite and entertain football fans throughout the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. The new tournament features 32 of the world’s top club teams competing in the United States from June 14th to July 13th, culminating in the final at MetLife Stadium in New York, New Jersey. All 6 international confederations under FIFA will be represented, with teams’ qualifying on sporting merit such as winning their respective major continental club competition or through a ranking from having strong performances over a four-year period in the continental competition.

George Daskalakis, co-founder and CEO of Kaizen Gaming, said: “After being the first sports betting operator to support the FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar in 2022, we are proud that Betano is joining forces with FIFA once again – this time for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™. It is a privilege to work closely with FIFA for a tournament that brings together millions of fans from all around the world as they get to watch the best club teams and players football has to offer. This year’s tournament is particularly special, as it marks a moment in history as the inaugural edition.”

Romy Gai, Chief Business Officer at FIFA said: “We are thrilled to be collaborating once again with Kaizen Gaming and its Betano brand. Our shared ethos of enhancing the fan experience delivered huge successes during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM, and we are excited to be working with their team to deliver another world-class tournament. Over the past three years, we have seen the Betano brand grow and expand, and we know fans will be excited for this next step.”

The post Betano Teams up with FIFA as Official Partner of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ for South America appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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Meet MegaList: The Rising Force in iGaming Affiliation

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There are affiliate networks, and then there’s MegaList – a performance-first, hype-last kind of operation built for casino and sportsbook brands that prefer results over buzzwords.

In an industry that sometimes feels like it’s powered by vague metrics and recycled content, MegaList steps in as the “Mega Map” – a practical, data-driven network guiding both players and operators to higher ground. Less “look at our reach,” more “here’s your conversion rate.”

So no, this isn’t just another logo-stamped brand promising traffic and delivering bounce rates. This is a carefully engineered affiliate engine built on smart SEO, qualified leads, and just enough caffeine-fueled obsession with results to make even the most skeptical operators pay attention.

The iGaming Affiliate World: Why It (Still) Matters

Let’s be honest – the affiliate space in iGaming has had its fair share of bad actors and empty promises. But when done right, affiliate marketing is still one of the most effective and efficient ways to connect licensed operators with the right players.

Players want fewer popups, more clarity. Operators want actual ROI, not vague impressions.
Enter: the data-driven affiliate network.

It’s simple:

  • Informed players make better choices.
  • Strategic affiliates deliver better traffic.
  • Everyone wins. Except, of course, the shady operators who preferred it the other way.

Meet the MegaList Brands

These aren’t vanity microsites. Each MegaList brand has a specific mission, actual humans behind the content, and a reputation for, well… telling it like it is.

MegaCasinoList


Let’s face it – players don’t need another affiliate promising “top 10 casinos” based on whatever ad paid the most. They need honest, transparent, expert-backed reviews.

That’s where MegaCasinoList comes in – a platform that filters out the noise and delivers legit info on licensed casinos, security, fairness, and gameplay. Slots? Live dealer games? Payout speed? Yep, it’s all in there, and it’s all vetted.

They work with reliable operators only, because – and here’s a crazy idea – not every shiny site deserves your deposit.

MegaTipsList

If you like sports predictions that read like a 20-page legal document, you’re in the wrong place.

MegaTipsList is built for bettors who want real insights, fast reads, accurate tips, and actual value. It delivers predictions, sports news, and timely promotions – minus the fluff and with none of that “win guaranteed” nonsense.

Designed for bettors who like to stay informed without needing a PhD to understand the odds.

MegaBetList

For the practical bettor who just wants the facts: which sites are legit, which ones pay fast, and what to expect before placing your first wager.

MegaBetList reviews betting platforms with a clear, no-nonsense voice. It’s not trying to dazzle; it’s trying to help people bet smarter – and it’s doing a pretty solid job of it.

From licensing to promotions to usability, everything is covered – and everything is filtered through what actually matters to sports fans.

Why This All Matters (And Why It’s Working)

The iGaming world doesn’t need more noise. It needs better filters, smarter partners, and affiliates that actually care whether the traffic leads somewhere useful.

That’s where MegaList comes in – not to impress with buzzwords, but to perform, to scale, and to make sure both operators and players are on the same page for once.

And if we may drop in a little vision while we’re at it:

“At MegaList, we believe informed players and strategic operators shape a stronger, smarter iGaming industry.”

For once, a statement that isn’t just inspirational filler.

So the next time someone pitches you an affiliate network, ask one thing: “Do they have a plan, or just a landing page?”

 MegaList has both, and a track record to prove it.

Explore MegaList’s network:
🔗 MegaAffiliatesList.com

The post Meet MegaList: The Rising Force in iGaming Affiliation appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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