A new report by Kpmg has reviewed the consumer protection measures offered by various online services, including gambling, and found that Egba members offer many and detailed consumer protection measures, particularly in respect to safer gambling and data protection.
The report, commissioned by Egba, reviewed one gambling website from each of Egba’s six member companies in both Denmark and the Uk, along with one website in each jurisdiction for selected social media, financial services, relationship, alcohol retail, and e-sports companies. Kpgm reviewed the terms and conditions contracts of each website across five focus areas: Know-Your-Customer; Customer Safety; Data Protection; Anti-money Laundering; and Advertising.
For the reviewed websites of Egba members, the report found:
Know Your Customer (Kyc): All websites have robust Kyc procedures in both jurisdictions (e.g. age verification). All but one of the websites require proof of identity during account sign up.
Customer Safety: All websites have extensive safer gambling practices, with safer gambling featuring prominently on their websites. Tools and resources to help and support customers are clearly available and prominent on each website (e.g. helplines; and safety tools such as Loss Limits; Self-Exclusion; and Time Outs).
Data Protection: The websites have extensive data protection policies and statutory responsibilities, including details of rights; data retention; data control; lawful basis for processing data; privacy policy and personal information processing.
Anti-Money Laundering (Aml): Most websites offer detailed Aml practices, while the websites of two companies had only a moderate amount of information available in respect to their Aml practices on their websites.
Advertising: With one exception, on all the websites it is clearly stated that personal data is used to provide targeted and tailored product recommendations. Four websites clearly state that players may opt out of receiving marketing/advertising communications.
"We welcome the report and its findings, which offers a valuable barometer of the level of consumer protection offered by our members. The purpose of the report is to check how Egba member companies sit within the bigger world of online services in terms of the consumer protections they offer. The findings clearly show that Egba members have a high commitment to offering their customers a high standard of consumer protection." – Maarten Haijer, Secretary General, European Gaming and Betting Association (Egba).
A summary presentation of the study is available here.