Lottery Authority wins first round against foreign gambling companies

Lottery AuthorityPhoto: Headquartered.Lottery Authority

The Lottery Authority has registered the first win in the effort to block money transfers going to, or coming from, foreign gambling companies.
Most foreign gaming and gambling companies circumvent the prohibition of receiving payments by using solutions where transactions are made through a payment service provider, wrote Aftenposten newspaper.

‘The ban on making payments is doomed to failure,’ said PR chief, Peter Alling, of Kindred Group, the parent company behind the Unibet brand.

The Norwegian authorities have recently acquired three international payment intermediaries. They have confirmed in writing that they will stop all transactions, either to or from Norwegian players.

In January and February of this year, these companies accounted for approximately NOK 300 million of these gambling transactions – or around 65%.

‘We are very pleased that payment providers understand that the transfer of money to, or receiving it from, Norwegians by foreign gaming companies is in violation of Norwegian law, and therefore we have taken measures to stop this,’ said Linda Vøllestad Westbye, Director of the Lottery Authority.

The ban on the transfer of money between the gaming companies and Norwegian banking and financial institutions has been in place since 2010.

So far, the ban has had little effect. Gaming companies have used a third party, a so-called payment service provider, making it difficult for Norwegian banks to discover who the money is being conveyed to or from.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today