Connect with us
betting-and-gaming-council-members-boast-record-compliance-on-age-verification-checks betting-and-gaming-council-members-boast-record-compliance-on-age-verification-checks

Compliance Updates

Betting and Gaming Council Members Boast Record Compliance on Age Verification Checks

Published

on

Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

The members of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) have achieved record compliance rates for age verification checks, according to leading industry auditor Serve Legal.

Independent figures provided by Serve Legal, show bookmakers boasted a 91.4% age verification pass rate, across thousands of annual checks.

Meanwhile, casinos have a near-perfect pass rate of 98%.

This represents a 30% compliance increase across the audit volume since 2009, when Serve Legal began working with the regulated betting and gaming sector.

Regulated betting and gaming is now the leading sector in the UK for age verification compliance, better than supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol forecourts and delivering 10-15% higher compliance rates than the alcohol and lottery sectors annually.

BGC members take a zero-tolerance approach to betting by children and have significantly raised standards to protect young people.

The most popular forms of betting by children are legal arcade games like penny pusher and claw grab machines, bets between friends or family, and playing cards for money – not with BGC members.

BGC members enforce strict age verification on all their products to prevent underage gaming and will further strengthen age verification measures by increasing the checking age from “Think 21” to “Think 25” across betting shops and casinos. This policy will require anyone who is over 18 but looks under 25 to provide ID.

The BGC also funds the £10m Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme, delivered by leading charities YGAM and GamCare, which has reached more than two million 11 to 19-year-olds, and those working with them, in the UK.

Wes Himes, Executive Director of Standards and Innovation, said: “The BGC and our members are incredibly proud of these compliance rates, which put us ahead of our peers in every department.

“I am hugely grateful to Serve Legal for their work over the last 15 years, who have been instrumental in this change. Serve Legal, alongside our members and their dedicated staff, have led the charge in raising standards and setting a new benchmark for excellence.

“Bookmakers and casinos play a vital economic role on the UK’s hard-pressed high streets, as well as in the leisure and tourism sector. But economic contribution has to go hand-in-hand with the highest standards.

“We are delivering that, which should be welcome news to customers and communities across the country. Our work to raise standards goes on, and I expect these compliance rates to continue improving across the land-based betting and gaming sector.”

Serve Legal is the market-leading provider of ID and compliance testing services in the UK & Ireland. Providing extensive, independent audit services to national retailers, leisure operators and sports broadcasters, Serve Legal’s site audits help clients protect and improve operational and compliance standards.

Over the last 15 years, Serve Legal has conducted over 200,000 bookmaker and casino site audits, to ensure due diligence across a range of compliance issues for BGC members.

Audit checks were conducted at single-site businesses through to national brands with thousands of locations on UK high streets.

Serve Legal Client Manager Ali Deering said: “Compliance challenges can be greater for smaller independent bookmakers. The BGC have done admirable work in bringing them up to speed with the latest compliance support, to offer a level playing field with other big names in the industry. At Serve Legal we are proud to be supporting all of the BGC’s members, including casinos, with their due diligence and celebrate the tangible successes in each of them!”

The improvement comes as a result of new measures on customer interactions and improved “challenge on entry” standards for age verification.

Serve Legal CEO Ed Heaver said: “The Serve Legal team are incredibly proud of the work conducted by the BGC and their members. Their impressive dedication and work ethic has paid off in some highly impressive statistics, showing the 30% compliance increase across the industry over the time that we have worked in the sector. We thank the BGC for pioneering their mission of customer safety alongside ours.”

The BGC’s commitment to protecting young people extends beyond land-based betting and gaming, including recent commitments on advertising.

In 2019, BGC members introduced the whistle-to-whistle ban on TV betting commercials during live sports before the 9 pm watershed, which led to the number of such ads being seen by children at that time falling by 97%.

BGC members have also introduced new age-gating rules for advertising on social media platforms, targeting ads to those aged 25 and over unless a platform can verifiably prove that its age-gating systems can prevent under-18s from accessing regulated betting and gaming advertising content.

The BGC has also written to the Government, asking them to urge social media companies to cooperate more closely with the betting and gaming industry in limiting marketing seen by young people and problem gamblers.

Recent data from the Gambling Commission published last year showed young people’s exposure to betting and gaming adverts and promotions had declined compared to the previous year.

Of 11 to 17-year-olds, 55% had seen regulated betting and gaming adverts offline, compared to 66% in 2022, and 53% had seen adverts online, compared to 63% in 2022.

The Government has previously stated research did not establish a causal link between exposure to advertising and the development of problem betting and gaming.

The regulated betting and gaming industry is determined to promote safer gaming, unlike the unsafe and growing online black market, which has none of the safeguards strictly employed by BGC members.

BGC members overall contribute £7.1bn to the economy and generate £4.2bn in tax while supporting 110,000 jobs.

Each month in Great Britain around 22.5m adults have a bet and the most recent NHS Health Survey for England estimated that 0.4% of the adult population are problem gamblers.

The post Betting and Gaming Council Members Boast Record Compliance on Age Verification Checks appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

BetAlert

Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming Launches BetAlert

Published

on

brazilian-institute-of-responsible-gaming-launches-betalert

 

The Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR), an entity that brings together the main operators in Brazil and worldwide, announces the launch of BetAlert, an unprecedented tool that allows any user to quickly and easily verify whether the betting site they intend to use is regulated by the Federal Government. The initiative is part of the “No More Elephant in the Room” campaign, which includes a TV commercial, radio spots, airport panels, and social media actions. Its goal is to guide bettors in choosing platforms regulated by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, under the Ministry of Finance.

Conducted between April and May 2025 with 2000 adult bettors, research by the Locomotiva Institute served as the basis for the economic study prepared by LCA. The survey estimates that between 41% and 51% of the Brazilian betting market still operates illegally. The activity of these irregular platforms reflects an alarming fiscal impact: between R$ 1.8 billion and R$ 2.7 billion went uncollected in just three months – which could reach R$ 10.8 billion in one year.

Named BetAlert (https://betalert.com.br/), the technology runs on an exclusive microsite that offers an interactive experience for those looking to bet safely and obtain tips on how to differentiate regulated betting sites from illegal ones. Simply enter the URL of any betting site, and the tool immediately indicates whether the platform is licensed. If it is regulated, the following message appears: “All good. This betting site is authorized by the Federal Government.” If not, the system displays a creative alert integrated into the campaign by agency We: “Attention. This betting site is not authorized by the Federal Government,” reinforcing the illegality of the platform consulted.

“IBJR greatly values the use of tools and technologies that contribute to spreading knowledge about the sector. BetAlert is extremely important, and we hope it will be widely used by bettors and Brazilian society. Our goal is to ensure that people have access to all the benefits of regulation, the core of which is the safety of those who bet,” said Fernando Vieira, Executive President of IBJR.

The post Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming Launches BetAlert appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

Continue Reading

Compliance Updates

German Betting Association Warns of Rise of Black Market Gambling

Published

on

german-betting-association-warns-of-rise-of-black-market-gambling
Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

Only one in twelve German betting websites is legal, warns the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) at the start of the UEFA Champions League season: there are at least 382 illegal German-language websites offering sports betting compared to just 34 legal betting sites. The DSWV refers to a corresponding evaluation by the Joint Gambling Authority of the federal states (GGL) for the year 2024.

“Online, it’s 11:1 in favor of the black market and that puts players at risk. In the legal sports betting market, players benefit from guaranteed player protection, reliable payouts and tax revenue for the common good. Illegal providers in the black market, on the other hand, do not adhere to any rules, offer no security and have a higher risk of gambling addiction,” Mathias Dahms, President of the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV), said.

With the start of the UEFA Champions League, the second most-bet competition in Germany after the Bundesliga, the volume of betting has skyrocketed.

“Players need to be particularly vigilant at this time of year so that they don’t accidentally end up with illegal providers. This is another reason why it is important that the legal providers are present with perimeter boards and TV advertising during the Champions League matches,” Dahms said.

What many players do not know is that they are not only taking a higher risk, but are also liable to prosecution. Participating in unauthorized sports betting can result in a prison sentence of up to six months or a fine.

How to recognise legal betting providers:

• Only legal providers may advertise on stadium boards and on television during sporting events such as the Champions League or Bundesliga.

• Only providers on the GGL whitelist are legal in Germany. The list is publicly available at www.gluecksspiel-behoerde.de/whitelist.

• Legal providers have a clearly visible GGL permit logo on their website.

• Only legal providers offer comprehensive player protection measures such as deposit limits, player bans and monitoring of conspicuous gaming behavior.

• Only legal providers contribute to the funding of support services for gamblers at risk of gambling addiction, such as the anonymous and free hotline 0800-1372700 or the website check-dein-spiel.de of the Federal Institute of Public Health (BIÖG).

• With legal providers, payouts are guaranteed and the stakes are properly taxed.

“It is in the common interest of regulators, providers and players to strengthen the legal market and push back the black market. This is the only way to ensure player protection, integrity and tax revenues,” Dahms said.

The post German Betting Association Warns of Rise of Black Market Gambling appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

Compliance Updates

Ukraine’s PlayCity Begins Issuing Licenses to Gambling Operators

Published

on

ukraine’s-playcity-begins-issuing-licenses-to-gambling-operators
Reading Time: < 1 minute

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a resolution on licensing conditions in the gambling sector, which allows the state agency PlayCity to begin issuing licenses to gambling organisers and confirming previously issued ones.

“As a result, this will generate almost UAH 50 million (1.028.956,00 Euro) in additional revenues to the state budget from license fees in the near future,” PlayCity reported on Telegram.

It is noted that to obtain a license, impeccable business reputation, lack of ties with the aggressor state and implementation of all necessary mechanisms for responsible gaming are required.

PlayCity clarified that such requirements apply to both those who are only applying for a license and current licensees. Current licensees have two months to submit documents to PlayCity on compliance with the requirements.

The message emphasises that if the requirements are not met, sanctions in the form of fines or termination of the license may be applied to the organisers of gambling.

“The state will direct additional budget revenues to strengthen defense capabilities, in particular, to purchase drones for the Defense Forces,” PlayCity added.

The post Ukraine’s PlayCity Begins Issuing Licenses to Gambling Operators appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Continue Reading

Trending