In Touch Games has its UK Licenses Suspended by the UKGC

Posted by Harry Kane on Saturday, September 30, 2023

The UK government has recently unveiled its long-awaited report on iGaming in the UK, while liaising with the regulator to make several proposals (such as capping online slots stakes at between £2 and £15 per spin, imposing potential marketing bans and affordability checks for younger gamblers or perceived high rollers) reality.

A natural consequence of this report is a comprehensive review of licensing criteria and all existing operators in the marketplace, and we’ve already seen at least one gambling firm sanctioned for failing to meet its requirements in the eyes of the regulator. This is In Touch Games Limited (IGT), who had their licenses to operate in Britain suspended at the beginning of September 2023.

Why Have In Touch Games had their Licenses Banned in the UK?

According to the media coverage so far, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) first moved to suspend the licenses of In Touch Games at the beginning of September. This followed a long and arduous regulatory process, which saw the company fined a whopping £6.1 million in February for significant social responsibility and money laundering failings.

These failures were far-reaching. In terms of the failings associated with social responsibility, In Touch Games were charged with not interacting with a potential problem gambler for a period of seven weeks after they were first flagged for showcasing erratic and extended gameplay. They also accepted one customer’s word that they earned £6,000 a month to justify their spend, without attempting to verify this until the individual was flagged for wagering during unsociable hours.

In the case of anti-money laundering failings, these included not having appropriate policies in place to prohibit this practice. Similarly, the regulator found that there weren’t sufficient controls in place for identifying money-laundering or terrorist financing risks, placing both players and the brand at potential risk over time.

Despite the fine being issued in February, some of these failings persisted, so the regulator moved to suspend the brand’s UK licensing pending a further, more detailed review. This review will be carried out under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, while the decision to temporary suspend licensing was taken in accordance of Section 118 (2) of the same Act.

Just a few days after the decision was announced, In Touch Games Limited sought to voluntarily surrender their UKGC operating license. Despite this, the full-scale operator review and subsequent enforcement of sanctions (where appropriate) will continue, while the Commission will also consider whether individual action is required against people who hold personal management licenses at the company.

Immediately, ITG was asked to initiate a timely and orderly closure of their websites, namely bonusboss.co.uk, cashmo.co.uk, casino.mfortune.co.uk, casino2020.co.uk, drslot.co.uk, jammymonkey.com, mfortune.co.uk, mrspin.co.uk, pocketwin.co.uk and slotfactory.com. There are 11 iGaming sites that come under the overarching banner of IGT, while a quick glance at the website shows that all of these trading names are now categorised as being “inactive”.

A Brief History of IGT Games and Their Regulatory Journey

Just as the recent licenses suspension follows a hefty fine in February, IGT have found themselves on a difficult regulatory journey with the operator in recent times. In fact, it’s hefty sanction earlier this years represented the third time it had faced regulatory action in the last four years, with the brand having agreed a £2.2 million settlement for social responsibility and money-laundering failures back in 2019.

In 2021, further such failures were uncovered by the regulator, who once again stepped in to issue a £3.4 million fine to IGT. The incrementally higher nature of these penalties highlighted the extent of the failures and the company’s sustained failure to correct them, so the UKGC felt as though it had little choice but to take further action this time around.

What Does This Mean About the Market and its Future?

In many ways, the recent financial sanction and license suspension had little to do with the extensive iGaming review, with IGT having experienced significant issues with the regulator since 2019. However, we can definitely expect more investigations and penalties being issued in the near to medium-term, depending on the precise extent of the upcoming iGaming reforms and their timeframes.

One particular IGT failing in February focused on the inability to verify the income of a high roller before their stake amounts scaled and they began to consistently wager at unsociable hours. Given that we’re likely to see so-called affordability checks rolled out for younger gamblers (aged between 18 and 24) and big spending players on a much larger scale going forward, this type of failure may become more pronounced and scrutinised by the regulator.

This may, in turn, increase both the frequency and the extent of the financial sanctions imposed on operators, especially as brands transition to their new regulatory reality. Similarly, greater responsibilities will be placed on companies to identify and help potential problem gamblers before their behaviour becomes too problematic, especially with an Ombudsman being set up to oversee this process.

The Ombudsman will tackle the complex task of identifying when specific gambling behaviours and patterns become either excessive or unaffordable, while investigating whether a particular operator did enough to prevent harm from befalling the player. Such evaluations are rarely straightforward at the best of times, but there’s no doubt that brands will be under growing pressure to safeguard their players as the market evolves.

This will be an interesting space to watch in the future, of course, but the recent action taken against IGT could well be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the recent online gambling report and how this is likely to impact on operators and the enforcement of regulations!