Norway to Ban Payments to Unlicensed Betting Sites

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

This week Norway's gaming regulator announced the upcoming implementation of payment bans to unlicensed betting operators, which will take effect January 1st.

The system will see various banking institutions being forced to comply if and when the gaming operator Lotteritilsynet sends a request. Many Norwegian banks already block the transactions, but many betting groups have found workarounds. The new method will see blockade requests made related to account numbers and company names.

There's been a ban on unlicensed betting sites getting access to Norwegian financial transactions since 2010, but the regulator and banks haven't found an effective way to combat the issue.

Speaking about the issue Lotteritilsynet advisor Gram Skar said, "The foundation of the Norwegian gambling model is to help protect vulnerable groups from becoming gambling addicts. Good public control of gambling offsets both crime and gambling addiction.

"We see the effect of work we are doing today, but the purpose of the changes is to make the payment service ban more effective. This means we can, to a greater extent, prevent gaming companies from accepting deposits from Norwegian players."

About the author

Therese Williams // UK Correspondent
Therese Williams
Therese is a fervent fan of slot machines and pub fruities, often trying her luck at some of the top online casinos. She covers news for Casino Listings with a focus on the UK and Europe. Therese studied arts and creative writing at university and has written for newspapers in the UK.
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bgsharpe
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19 December 2019 - 8:32pm
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It's hard to believe it took around 10 years for the local gaming regulator to find a way along with the banking system in the country to block all those unlicensed sites...better late than never they say...