Latest News
BOS Claims Swedish Banking Institutions Have Suspended Services Provided to Licensed Gambling Operators
Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary-general of the Swedish trade association Branscheforenigen för Onlinespel (BOS), has claimed that all of the country’s major banking institutions have suspended services they provide to licensed gambling operators.
BOS said that “all major Nordic banks” – including SEB, Swedbank, Nordea, Handelsbanken, DNB Nor and Danske Bank – stopped providing services to Swedish-licensed gambling operators at some point this year.
Claiming this is in violation of Swedish law, Hoffstedt has filed a complaint to the country’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).
Most of these banks, Hoffstedt said, cited internal risk assessments or Sweden’s Anti-Money Laundering Act (PTL) as the reasons for account closures. The BOS secretary-general added that “in some cases the banks have not stated any reason at all”.
“As far as I am aware, no concrete justification for the dismissals and banks’ assessment has been provided in any case,” Hoffstedt said.
Hoffstedt added that gambling operators cannot function without banking services.
“Online gambling companies are, as stated above, dependent on basic financial infrastructure in the form of banking and payment services to conduct their business,” he explained. “This requires [them] to be able to store customers’ funds as well as receive deposits and make payments to customers.”
He added that the suspension of services meant that operators could no longer use Bank-ID, used to verify players’ identities. This meant they had lost access to a tool that was vital for fighting fraud and money laundering, Hoffstedt.
“Without access to the Bank-ID system, online gambling companies need to use alternative solutions to identify their customers. These solutions risk being neither as effective for companies nor as safe for users,” he explained.
Swedish Banks also provide the Swish payment service, which Hoffstedt said was also “very important” for operators.
Hoffstedt said that the banks’ decisions had worsened operating conditions for the country’s igaming licensees, as well as counteracting the goals of the Gambling Act.
He went as far as arguing that the actions were illegal.
Hoffstedt said banks have a contractual obligation to continue to provide banking services to these customers, unless there is a clear reason to break this agreement. Only in incidents where continuing to provide banking services would violate the PTL, or if the banking customer had committed misconduct, could agreements be broken, he claimed.
While Hoffstedt noted that banks may terminate agreements if they suspect a customer has connections to money laundering, he pointed out the PTL made clear that these assessments are at the customer level. They can, therefore, not be applied on a sweeping basis to a legal industry.
“Given that a large proportion of BOS members also received notice or notice of termination from the banks – all with general and overarching references to the risk of money laundering in the business – it seems obvious that the basis for the dismissals is a general business policy decision rather than a valid application of PTL,” he said.
“Under these circumstances, there is no possibility for the banks to deviate from their contractual obligation.”
BOS requested a dialogue with the Financial Supervisory Authority and said the regulator “should initiate a supervisory investigation of the banks’ handling and possibly intervene against the banks”.
SEB – one of the banks mentioned by BOS – however, argued it was not systematically ending relationships with gambling operators but rather examined the risk for every client on an individual basis.
“We always make an individual assessment of individual client relationships,“ SEB said. “When it comes to gambling companies, we generally have a cautious approach based on the raised risk level, not least connected to risks relating to money laundering and financial crime.”
Danske Bank, meanwhile, denied it had a policy specifically preventing gambling businesses from operating, but did say these businesses undergo a stricter screening process.
“Danske Bank does not exclude banking services for gambling operations as such,” Danske Bank said. “However, our assessment is that the gambling industry in general is associated with high risk and due to that we have tailored screening principles to ensure that the companies operate responsibly.
“In a case where a specific gambling client does not meet the requirements of our KYC-process or ESG-assessment, the ultimate consequence could be that we limit our offerings or refrain from enter into a business relationship.”
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America 250
IWG launches America 250 eInstant across eight US lottery markets
The digital instant-win game rolls out in Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Instant Win Gaming (IWG) has launched America 250, a new eInstant game created to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.
IWG said the title is launching across multiple US lotteries: Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
Set in Washington, D.C., the game uses Americana-themed artwork and symbols including the Statue of Liberty, bald eagle, Liberty Bell, patriotic balloons, Uncle Sam’s hat, and commemorative America 250 coins. IWG said fireworks animations run throughout gameplay.
America 250 includes several bonus features: Declaration Dollars, which has players collect pieces of the Declaration of Independence via re-spins; Scenes of America, which builds win multipliers through historical moments; and Innovation Pick-and-Click, where players uncover American inventions and collect prizes until a collect symbol appears. The game also includes a randomly triggered “All or Nothing” coin-flip feature.
Jason Lisiecki, Executive Vice President at IWG, said: “The 250th anniversary of the United States is a once-in-a-generation celebration, and America 250 gives lotteries a unique opportunity to connect with players through a theme that is instantly recognizable and deeply meaningful. The game combines iconic American imagery, engaging bonus experiences, and a visually spectacular presentation to create an entertaining experience that captures the spirit and excitement of this historic milestone.”
The post IWG launches America 250 eInstant across eight US lottery markets appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
brand campaigns
Stake releases hot air balloon football match stunt at 10,000ft
Stake published a new campaign video on June 23 showing a small-sided football match played on a pitch suspended from a hot air balloon at 10,000ft.
The video features six extreme sports content creators—Nathan Roque, Alessio Papia, Nicolo Contrada, Yasmin Xavier, Sara Vidal, and Carol Chafauzer—playing on a 12m x 20m synthetic grass platform. Stake said the 3,000kg pitch was carried by balloon during a 60-minute flight, with participants later jumping from the platform using parachutes.
The activation sits within Stake’s “It’s All At Stake” brand platform, which the company launched ahead of this summer’s global football tournament. According to Stake, the campaign is being promoted across YouTube, Instagram and X.
Jarrod Febbraio, Director at Stake, said: “This summer sees one of the biggest cultural moments on the planet and simply showing up is no longer enough. Our ambition is to create campaigns that genuinely capture people’s attention, spark conversation and give fans something they haven’t seen before.
“At Stake, we are always looking for ways to push creative boundaries and challenge expectations around sports marketing. Whether it’s our It’s All At Stake campaign or staging a football match thousands of feet in the air, the objective is the same – creating entertainment that resonates with audiences and delivers memorable experiences around the moments they care most about.”
Stake also said the “It’s All At Stake” campaign has generated more than 200 million views across earned and social channels in the first week of the tournament.
The post Stake releases hot air balloon football match stunt at 10,000ft appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Game Aggregation
Infingame says tournaments and missions drive retention on sweepstakes platforms
Infingame has published operational observations on what it says is driving player engagement on sweepstakes platforms, arguing that traditional online casino retention tactics don’t consistently translate to the sweepstakes model.
According to the aggregator, the strongest-performing sweepstakes products are built around progression-driven engagement, social-style competition, lightweight onboarding, and highly dynamic promotional systems. “Sweepstakes players behave very differently from traditional casino audiences,” said Jana Filagina, Head of Commercial at Infingame. “The expectation is much closer to entertainment platforms and gaming ecosystems than classic gambling products. Retention is driven by interaction quality, progression, and continuous engagement rather than purely transactional behavior.”
Infingame identified tournament ecosystems as a leading mechanic for repeat participation and session continuity, saying competitive formats outperform static reward campaigns by adding progression loops and achievement motivation. The company said operators using segmented tournament mechanics recorded higher repeat participation rates than those relying mainly on bonus-driven campaigns, and flagged “multiplier races, win races, and progression-based leaderboard systems” as particularly effective for mobile-first audiences due to short-session play patterns.
“Players want activity, not passive rewards,” Filagina said. “The strongest-performing sweepstakes platforms are creating environments where players continuously interact with missions, rankings, tournaments, and achievement systems rather than simply claiming bonuses.”
Infingame also highlighted mission-based challenge systems as a fast-growing retention lever, saying they encourage broader content exploration and higher daily return activity than standard promotional structures. Separately, the company pointed to infrastructure scalability as an operational priority, arguing that mobile-heavy, interaction-focused audiences make responsiveness and gameplay continuity central to engagement performance as operators scale across North America.
The post Infingame says tournaments and missions drive retention on sweepstakes platforms appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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