Stopping Click to Deposit, Affordabiltiy to Withdraw Winnings…

The betting public has been given an opportunity, and it shouldn’t be wasted…

Have you experienced a bookmaker asking for affordability bank statements, source of wealth and know your customer checks AFTER you have won some money?

I’ve had countless contacts about this, as have others. It’s led to growing tension amongst punters, venting their frustrations at the racing media who get paid for promoting these companies.

However, credit where it’s due, Matt Chapman of Sky Sports Racing has offered to approach this thorny topic head-on via the Sky Sports Racing Debate (Sunday, 11am).

Problem: Click to Deposit, Checks to Withdraw

According to the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, betting companies are advised to complete a series of checks on customers at the first possible chance.

They are:

• Know Your Customer Checks – for obvious reasons.
• Anti-Money Laundering Checks – to prevent criminal activity and terrorism.
• Affordability Checks – to prevent and minimise gambling-related harm

Betting companies allow customers to register an account, deposit funds and place a bet within minutes and a few clicks.

However, if a customer wins some money, they’re faced with multiple requests for unredacted bank statements, passports, photo ID, 3 months utility bills and various other information. The checks often take weeks to complete and result in more requests for further information. During this process they use the opportunity to look at your bank transactions and claim you are betting on somebody else’s behalf, breaking their terms of service (meaning they don’t pay out).

If you don’t supply your documents or they decide you have bet on someone else’s behalf, you don’t get your winnings.

Naturally, this means they win either way. Either they obtain your data (no law to support this) or they get to keep your winnings. If you were an unprofitable customer, the account is likely limited.

It appears the gambling companies are only worried about money laundering, terrorism and gambling harm if you won some money from them. I have not heard of a customer who got their deposits refunded for failing affordability or AML checks. It appears they keep the money in that instance too.

Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the UKGC said abuse of checks would not be tolerated in a racing post article.

Tell Matt Your Story Now!

Seeing Matt has asked, I would urge all who have experienced this behaviour to take 10 minutes to submit a short email, including a screenshot (redacted if necessary) to Matt for this Sunday’s racing debate. Hopefully, it won’t be a fleeting mention of bookmakers restricting winners like many other industry presenters.

Send your emails to: [email protected]

Include:

• When you registered the account
• What appeared to trigger the checks
• The conclusion of the case and if you got paid

If you don’t, you can’t be complaining about this in the future. Now is a chance to bring this issue to the surface and give it the attention it deserves.

In the Future?

Personally, I’d like to see Matt get Andrew Rhodes of the UKGC and representatives from companies like William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral to explain how and why this is legally allowed. The average punter shouldn’t have to go through weeks of checks and administrative work to get winnings from a bet that was already accepted. Especially when the companies have the opportunity to do all checks the second an account is opened.

Lets see what happens on the racing debate – 11am Sunday 10th July.

Referenced:

Matt’s offer on Twitter…

A taste of the process for anyone unaware…