InTouch Games fined £3.4m by UKGC
Published on by Becky Mosley
The UK Gambling Commission has fined InTouch Games Limited £3.4million for their failure in their social responsibilities and anti-money laundering systems, along with issuing an official warning. This isn’t the first time the UKGC have issued such fines to operators, and with the heavy focus on protecting players from gambling related harm, it probably won’t be the last.
Fine and Warning Issued
The UK Gambling Commission have been keen to clamp down on processes and procedures and ensure all operators which hold a UK licence, adhere to these strict regulations. A UK Gambling License is renowned for having some of the most robust codes of practice and therefore should offer players some of the best protection. But last week, the UKGC took action against InTouch Games for a number of failings. InTouch Games operate pocketwin.co.uk, mfortune.co.uk, drslot.co.uk, casino2020.co.uk, slotfactory.com, bonusboss.co.uk and cashmo.co.uk.
Social Responsibility and Anti-Money Laundering
The UKGC found InTouch Games had failings in their anti-money laundering procedures, which included failing to carry out appropriate enhanced checks on customers, failing to thoroughly review source of funds information and not taking into account risk assessments that did not account for risks with payment providers who also use crypto currencies such as bitcoin.
With regards to the social responsibility failures, it was found that they did not carry out appropriate social responsibility checks and interaction for seven customers whose activity could indicate problem gambling. They also failed to follow their policy on setting mandatory limits on those customer accounts, and didn’t use all the information gathered to make and carry out effect decisions. As a result of these findings, InTouch Games now also have to hire a team of independent auditors to carry out a full and thorough audit of all their operations. This will be done at their own expense and they will need to meet all the relevant Codes of Practice and conditions set by the UKGC in order to retain their UK Gambling License.