Europe

Romanian national TV airs EGBA call for national self-exclusion

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The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has urged Romania to implement a self-exclusion registry, making the call right from within Parliament itself.

EGBA’s Secretary General Maarten Haijer attended an event organised by the Romanian Online Gambling Association (AOJND) and held at the Romanian Parliament building in Bucharest.

Speaking on national television, Haijer said that he’d like to see a national self-exclusion scheme adopted as “quickly as possible” in order to help those in need of it.

“We need to target a specific regulation that addresses prevention of harm in individuals rather than a very horizontal, one-size-fits-all regulation because this has proven to be not as successful as a more targeted one,” Haijer concluded.

At the event, Haijer was joined by representatives from the Danish gambling authority as well. Anders Dorph, Director of Spillemyndigheden, explained that Romania needs to change its view on the idea of gambling itself.

“We need to focus on educating the people of Romania, so that they know what gambling is about. It’s about entertainment, it’s not about winning money. It’s like a cinema. You have to pay for entertainment. I think that’s a very important message to get out,” Dorph added.

Responsible European Gambling
After the event, EGBA issued an official comment on its website regarding the matter with self-exclusion in Romania, reminding that this has already been implemented across 17 EU member states.

According to the trade body, when pondering a potential adoption of such a framework, Romanian policy makers should apply it to all licence holders – both land-based and online operators.

Another key point was that the self-exclusion scheme should be made accessible through a ‘GDPR-compliant government website’, and that additional commitments should be taken for it to be seamlessly integrated within gambling platforms.

Also drawing from European best practices, EGBA added that such a scheme should make it a requirement for operators to remove self-excluded players from marketing databases, and that it must ensure that minimum and maximum self-exclusion periods are offered to customers.

Taking care of its players is the natural step going forward for Romania given the growth of online gambling in recent years – with the world of iGaming resting comfortably in each customer’s pocket wherever they go.

The last market report from EGBA revealed that in 2024, the online gambling market in Europe was worth an estimated €13.5bn, a number only poised to grow.

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TSB Bank and Bank of Ireland join gambling harm prevention push

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Banks are becoming increasingly prominent stakeholders in problem gambling prevention in the UK and Ireland at a time of regulatory and political focus on betting in both countries.

The UK is in the process of adopting the recommendations of the Gambling Act review, which ran between December 2020 and April 2023 with a white paper published in the latter.

Throughout this process, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) encouraged the betting industry to learn from banks and the wider financial services sector in areas such as data sharing.

In Ireland, meanwhile, a new regulator is establishing itself as the chief overseer of the country’s large betting and gaming sector – the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI).

As it prepares to take on full regulatory duties next year, the GRAI too is looking at how financial services tools can play a role in customer protection.

Another British bank plays its part
This week, TSB Bank became the latest major UK financial institution to throw its hat into the gambling player protection ring. The bank, the seventh largest in the UK by total assets, has started working with gambling harm prevention and education charity Ygam.

The partnership focuses on specialist educational resources in schools informed by Ygam’s research and experience and delivered by TSB Bank staff. The sessions will focus on practice guidance on money management and identifying potential risks when playing video games.

“Gaming now plays a central role in young people’s lives, offering significant benefits,” said Linda Scollins Smith, Director of Programmes at Ygam.

“However, it is always important to safeguard against the risks, and the increasing sophistication of game monetisation through microtransactions and in-game purchases underscores the need for education on this issue.”

TSB joins the player protection push after recently commissioning a Censuswide survey of 2,000 young gamers which found that gamers spend an average of £540 annually on in-game purchases and subscriptions.

This all forms part of a long-running conversation around the potential cross-over between video games and gambling, largely focused around in-game purchases and loot boxes, and whether these features can encourage gambling-type behaviour.

Kate Osiadacz, Head of Responsible Business, TSB, said: “Gaming is often one of young people’s first interactions with spending or managing their money digitally; so we’re pleased to be working with Ygam to reach young people with targeted advice.

“Our Money Confident schools programme greatly benefits from Ygam’s insight – and we’re keen to help empower the next generation to make informed decisions for their financial lives ahead.”

Another Irish ‘big four’ bank joins too
TSB Bank is not the first UK bank to get involved in gambling harm prevention, and probably won’t be the last. Monzo, the country’s fastest growing challenger bank, has offered a gambling payments block tool for some time and continually reports year-on-year increases in engagement with it.

Spanish bank Santander, the 11th largest in the UK by assets, has some of its own programmes. This firm demonstrated these in a workshop with Gamcare last year, one of Britain’s biggest gambling charities, such as solutions for revising spend levels, push notifications, and signposting to support services.

“At Santander, we believe that the bank, although not responsible, does have a part to play in gambling harm prevention,” said Graeme Cunning, Vulnerable Customers Strategy Manager at Santander.

Over in Ireland, the new Irish gambling regulator has also been welcoming banks introducing payment blocks for gambling. Anne-Marie Caufield, the GRAI’s CEO, publicly praised Allied Irish Bank (AIB) and EBS for doing so back in January.

The Bank of Ireland, one of the ‘big four’ of Irish banking alongside the aforementioned AIB, has become the latest to do so. The block can be applied across all betting, gaming and lottery sites licensed in the Republic of Ireland.

The bank cited some of its card spending data from Q1 2025 showing that 90% of gambling transactions took place online, with 99% funded by debit cards. It also found that the local areas which saw the sharpest increases in gambling activity during the quarter were Wicklow, Kilkenny, Limerick and Laois, particularly around popular sports events like Cheltenham and the Six Nations.

Áine McCleary, Chief Customer Officer at the Bank of Ireland, said: “Problem gambling can have a devastating effect not just on the person involved, but also on families, friends and loved ones. For those with a gambling addiction it can often seem like help is out of reach.

“This initiative we are launching is designed to help customers take positive steps to improve control over their finances. It also furthers Bank of Ireland’s ambition to improve the financial wellbeing of our customers and communities, especially those going through difficult times.”

The bank has also published an explanatory video via its LinkedIn page featuring testimonials about the benefits of gambling block products. This post was subsequently shared by the GRAI.

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GambleAware offers glimpse into NGSN success story

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The National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) has helped more than 110,000 people since it first launched in April 2023.

This was announced in a new report by GambleAware, an independent gambling harm charity that commissions the NGSN. Other key metrics include an average waiting time of two days for a first assessment appointment.

Another highlight is an increase in self-referrals of more than 50% in the second year since NGSN’s launch. This signaled that more individuals are accessing support directly from their local provider, evidencing the positive impact of a region-first approach.

This is something that many problem gambling treatment stakeholders have been vocally calling for since the Gambling Act review White Paper. The Health and Social Care Committee, for example, heard from public health professionals last month, all of whom argued a region-first approach is needed for gambling harm treatment.

Returning to GambleAware’s stats, the 110,000 figure is based on the number of individuals that have accessed services like the National Gambling Helpline, primary care, and additional residential aid.

Such services are usually categorised into three tiers of support, including assessment, brief interventions, extended brief interventions, treatment sessions, reviews and aftercare.

Since 2023, brief interventions in particular – a practice where short conversations are held to reduce risk of harm – have increased significantly by 93%, from 11,000 to 21,000 people in year two.

This has constituted a success for such short-term strategies, which are targeting gambling harm prevention through quick and early intervention.

Anna Hargrave, Deputy Chief Executive at GambleAware, commented: “The second year of the National Gambling Support Network presented an opportunity to take the learnings from year one and focus on how we can best support those affected by gambling harms.

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of people being supported and importantly, an increase in brief interventions and self-referrals, which means we can support people earlier and reduce the potential for further harm.

“The expertise within the Network is unrivalled and providers play a key role in helping people across the country, whether that be at the start of their journey, or supporting them at the end.

“We look forward to working with the future commissioners and the NGSN with the integration of the network into the future system to ensure providers can continue offering their crucial services.”

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Bank of Ireland rolls out Gambling Block in support of GRAI

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The Bank of Ireland (BoI) has launched its Gambling Block tool in support of the country’s new gambling regulatory regime led by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI).

It’s a step that comes amid mounting concern over increased online betting, especially among young adults, and coincides with a wider campaign led by the GRAI to promote financial safeguards across the banking sector.

The newly launched tool allows BoI customers to request a block that will prevent transactions with gambling operators, including online casinos, lotteries, and betting sites.

The blocking service is available for both personal and business debit cards, with plans to extend it to credit cards in the coming months. Customers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland can activate the block via dedicated helplines or through the bank’s website.

According to the bank’s own analysis of Q1 2025 card spending, 90% of gambling transactions now occur online, and 99% are funded via debit card..

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EGBA pushes for targeted player protection regulation in Romania

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The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is encouraging Romanian officials to establish a national self-exclusion register for gambling to help protect players in the country from gambling harm.

In conversation with the Romanian news channel Antena 3 at a recent event held at the Romanian Parliament organised by the Romanian online gambling association (AOJND), the EGBA’s Secretary General, Maarten Haijer, explained why a gambling self-exclusion register is a must in the country to promote responsible play.

Haijer said: “We need to have very targeted, specific regulation that really addresses the prevention of harm of individuals, rather than very horizontal, one-size-fits-all regulation, because that has proven to be not as successful as more targeted.

“Our advice would be to set up a self-exclusion register as quickly as possible because that allows people who don’t want to gamble to self-exclude.”

The EGBA has recommended that Romania’s gambling self-exclusion system s..

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GAMSTOP scores 75% success rate amid changing UK landscape

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GAMSTOP has expressed full commitment to supporting the shifting UK gambling landscape in the wake of a successful 2024.

The gambling self-exclusion scheme reported a 75% success rate with users who have stopped gambling online after registering with the service between April and June 2024. This was backed by an independent evaluation from Ipsos.

Within the same evaluation, “almost half” of users have stopped gambling altogether, while 75% reported feeling more confident in controlling their gambling choices.

Overall satisfactory rates with the service were found to be 74%, with a total of 78% saying they have achieved the results they’ve been looking for when reaching out to GAMSTOP.

The three main quoted reasons that people signed up to GAMSTOP last year were to stop online gambling, regain control over their lives, and control their gambling spend.

This is further explained by the negative impact that people reported gambling as having on their personal relationships before seeking support from GAMSTOP.

A total of 60% reported bad relationships with friends and family, 85% were in a bad financial situation, 58% reported having bad physical health as a result of gambling, while 80% believed they were negatively impacted mentally.

Another highlight that catches the attention is that out of the three optional self-exclusion periods of eight months, one year, and five years, GAMSTOP reported that most users selected the latter.

The five-year period option was upgraded in December with an auto-renewal function, excluding players automatically for another five years once the first interval is completed.

Moving forward, GAMSTOP will need to work in a somewhat different UK gambling market given the statutory levy on funding, research, education, and treatment (RET Levy) by the DCMS, which was introduced last year as an additional layer of player protection.

This measure aims to secure £100m in additional funding annually for organisations, projects, and initiatives related to the prevention of problem gambling.

On the new landscape and GAMSTOP’s active role within it, Fiona Palmer, CEO of the self-exclusion scheme, concluded: “While the newly-announced funding mechanism for research, prevention, and treatment in the UK, revealed in November, does not impact our funding model, we anticipate significant changes to the broader environment within which we work.

“We are well-placed to assist the new commissioners of prevention and treatment at national and local levels by providing GAMSTOP heatmap and demographic data, and have made a commitment to them to do this going forward.”

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BGC: Public response proves SGWeek is more relevant than ever before

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The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has underscored the relevance of Safer Gambling Week (#SGWeek) as an industry initiative informing the public about safer gambling tools and behaviours.

The UK gambling trade body cites new data from SGWeek 2024, stating that the “numbers of punters using safer gambling tools surged for another year running”.

A positive response to last year’s campaign saw over 1.5 million unique accounts use a safer gambling tool during SGWeek (18–24 November), representing a significant 22% year-on-year increase.
The 2024 campaign delivered 7.2 million safer gambling messages to UK adults throughout the week, a 10% rise on 2023. Campaign targeting was heightened across social media, generating over 60 million impressions on major platforms including X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram a 21% increase on the previous year.

Research also found that user-established deposit limits rose by 14% compared to the prior year. Notably, 47% of those setting deposit limits were first-time users, reflecting a positive shift towards responsible gambling behaviours.

SGWeek serves as the gambling industry’s flagship social responsibility campaign, bringing together UK and Irish regulated betting and gaming operators across all businesses. The campaign is run in collaboration with charities, support organisations, and the Gambling Commission to promote safer gambling practices.

The 2024 edition received cross-party political backing. Key supporters included Baroness Twycross, Minister for Gambling; Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Stuart Andrew; and Shadow Gambling Minister, Louie French. Endorsements from these senior figures strengthened the campaign’s credibility and broadened its public and industry reach.

Premier League clubs Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Southampton FC also contributed to the campaign’s exposure, sharing safer gambling messages with millions of fans via matchday channels and digital platforms.

During the week-long campaign, the SGWeek website recorded over 500,000 visits. The site provides essential information on tools such as deposit limits, time-outs, self-exclusion, and reality checks, alongside resources for individuals seeking support.

Grainne Hurst: BGC
BGC CEO Grainne Hurst commented: “Safer Gambling Week has proved its worth once again by making a real impact encouraging even more punters to make the most of the broad range of safer gambling tools only available in the regulated sector.

These new figures are a testament to its ongoing success, and this industry’s commitment to raising standards and ensuring the millions of customers who enjoy a regular flutter, do so in a safe and responsible environment.

SGWeek continues to demonstrate its effectiveness in raising awareness and increasing use of regulated safer gambling tools. The latest figures highlight the initiative’s sustained success for UK gambling and its emphasis on high standards on player protection.

Looking ahead, BGC members will continue to promote safer gambling year-round — but the dedicated focus of Safer Gambling Week, combined with broad political and sector support, delivers unique impact.

Hurst concluded: Our members promote safer gambling every day of the year, but a single dedicated week, bringing together the whole sector with support from MPs, peers, the regulator and other stakeholders, promotes that work in a uniquely powerful way.”

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European Economic Congress: Polish gambling is stuck in the grey zone

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The 17th European Economic Congress, held in Katowice, saw Polish gambling executives acknowledge that existing regulatory shortfalls have enabled the black market to encroach on Poland’s beleaguered and disoriented gambling sector.

A panel of gambling stakeholders at the European Economic Congress recognises that “the online casino market in Poland is largely beyond the state’s control”.

An earnest assessment of Poland’s gambling status was provided at an event hosted under the auspices of the trade body Graj Legalnie Association (Play Legally Association) and Poland’s Sports Lottery – Totalizator Sportowy.

The dire scenario is underscored by market data: since the 2017 reform of Poland’s gambling laws, which granted Totalizator Sportowy exclusive rights to operate online casino games, approximately PLN 230bn (€50bn) has flowed to offshore operators. The figure reflects a disheartening setback for Poland’s Treasury, which is estimated to have missed out on PLN 5.8bn (€1.3bn) in unpaid taxes.

Despite the government’s intentions, the sector remains mired in regulatory ambiguity. Since the legislative shift eight years ago, which was designed to limit the shadow economy and enhance enforcement, critics argue the situation has only grown opaquer.

Wojciech Szpil, former head of Totalizator Sportowy and current chairman of the UN Global Compact Network Poland, highlighted the challenges faced by regulators. The pace of digital change, he argued, has far outstripped the state’s capacity to respond.

“We are talking about the internet now — a medium that reaches all of us through the phones in our pockets,” he observed.

Enforcement, he added, is ultimately in the hands of the Ministry of Finance and the National Tax Administration (KAS), but the operational capacity to track and prosecute offshore entities, operating from the likes of Malta or Curaçao, remains severely limited.

Zdzisław Kostrubała, President of Graj Legalnie, was more blunt. “We are not opposed to regulation — we are opposed to regulation that doesn’t work,” he said. The eighth anniversary of the Gambling Act passed on 1 April, whose stated purpose was to limit unlicensed activity and boost tax compliance.
Yet the Ministry of Finance now maintains a blacklist of nearly 50,000 domains hosting illegal games, many of which continue to operate. Blocking such platforms, Kostrubała remarked, has become a futile game of cat and mouse. “Monopoly is an anachronism,” he added.

Others echoed the sentiment. Piotr Palutkiewicz of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute noted that most Polish consumers are unaware that only one online casino – Total Casino is legally sanctioned. “The law has not kept up with the facts,” he said.

Even consumers who wish to play legally often find themselves inadvertently on illegal platforms. In contrast, most European Union countries have adopted licensing models that permit multiple operators under regulatory supervision — balancing consumer freedom with state oversight.

Olgierd Cieślik, who chaired Totalizator Sportowy from 2017-2024 and was the architect of Total Casino, warned that the legal market is growing far too slowly.

According to data from H2 Gambling Capital, legal operators are expected to gain just 4–5% of market share over the next five years. In 2024, legal gambling revenue stood at PLN 67bn (€14.6bn) — nearly matched by an estimated PLN 65bn (€14bn) from the illegal sector.

Cieślik also drew comparisons with other digital industries, noting that users are accustomed to accessing multiple platforms for entertainment – be it streaming, social media, or betting. A single-state monopoly, he argued, fails to meet these evolving expectations.

As regulators across Europe gravitate toward more flexible, market-based systems, Poland’s rigid approach appears increasingly out of step. The grey zone persists, not for lack of law, but for lack of effective governance.

__________________________

The “Grey Zone” panel was held as part of the European Economic Congress. The debate was held under the patronage of: Graj Legalnie Association (Play Legally Association) and Totalizator Sportowy (Sports Lottery).

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Dutch offshore plague continues despite Google oversight

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Google asserts that it already has active anti-offshore gambling policies in the Netherlands in response to a motion filed by two Dutch politicians.

Mikal Tseggai, a member of the Dutch Labour Party, and Willem Koops, from the New Social Contract Party, requested a direct government intervention to restrict unlicensed operators from being shown to Dutch residents in Google searches.

“The House of Representatives heard the deliberation…requesting the government to include a ban on advertising and making gambling websites findable in search engines in the new gambling law, unless the Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit) has exceptionally certified a provider as a reliable organisation, the so-called whitelisting, on the basis of a careful review.”

In other words, the motion essentially asked for Google to refrain from giving advertising space to gambling operators unless the same ones have been explicitly cleared by the Kansspelautoriteit through the granting of a Dutch licence.

However, in an official response to CasinoNieuws.nl, Google confirmed that such measures already exist in the form of a whitelist incorporated within the US technology giant’s very own advertising policy.

This obliges the tech firm to only give region-specific advertising space to firms officially licensed by the relevant gambling regulators, including the Netherlands’ KSA.

Similar measures were most recently rolled out by Google across Nigeria and Germany.

Persistent issue
Despite this, illegal websites keep finding new ways to abuse Google’s search results to find new potential customers. In 2023, the tech firm reported a total of 5.5 billion ads taken down from its engine globally as they displayed content that violates its guidelines, including unlicensed gambling ads.

Earlier this year, Google’s EU headquarters in Ireland were contacted by the Dutch Quality Mark Responsible Affiliates (KVA) organisation that highlighted an increasing number of domains popping out after putting the term “casino without Cruks” in the search engine.

Dutch traffic towards such domains remains high, with the KVA reporting more than one million Dutch users lost to the black market by March of this year.

The development comes amid continuing political pressure on the Dutch gaming industry as the government looks at potential amendments to the 2021 Remote Gaming Act (KOA Act).

This review has been spearheaded by the State Secretary for Legal Protection, Teun Struycken, while proposed amendments have been subject to extensive parliamentary debate.

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