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BOS Claims Swedish Banking Institutions Have Suspended Services Provided to Licensed Gambling Operators

Published

5 years ago

April 26, 2021

Reading Time: 3 minutes

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.”

Caleta Gaming

Caleta Gaming launches Cluster Cup high-volatility football-themed slot

Published

38 minutes ago

May 11, 2026

Wladimir P.

caleta-gaming-launches-cluster-cup-high-volatility-football-themed-slot

New 7×7 cluster grid title ships with tumbling wins, progressive multipliers, Super Tricks and a Free Spins feature.

Caleta Gaming has launched Cluster Cup, a new high-volatility slot inspired by football and pitched around major June sporting events. The title is now available to operators worldwide, the supplier said.

Cluster Cup uses a 7×7 cluster grid and a Tumbler Feature, where winning symbols disappear and cascade with new ones until no further wins are formed. Caleta said this is designed to support extended win sequences.

According to the studio, the game runs at an RTP of 93.42% and includes a Progressive Multiplier that increases during gameplay through a “Tumble Timer” mechanic, paying out at the end of each tumbling sequence.

The game also includes “Super Tricks”, triggered when three or more tumbles occur in a single spin, randomly activating one of four features: Wild Shots, Symbols Exchange, Red Cards, or Big Gloves. A Free Spins bonus is available through gameplay or direct purchase.

“With Cluster Cup, we aimed to translate the thrill of football into a slot experience, adding our own touch with an awesome art style and dynamic animations”, said Pedro Vahl, Game Designer at Caleta Gaming. “The combination of tumbling mechanics, evolving multipliers, and the Super Tricks system creates moments of real tension and excitement, just like a match where everything can change in a single play.”

The post Caleta Gaming launches Cluster Cup high-volatility football-themed slot appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Acquisitions/Merger

Waterhouse VC takes 3-year option to buy stake in Spinlab Studio

Published

39 minutes ago

May 11, 2026

Wladimir P.

waterhouse-vc-takes-3-year-option-to-buy-stake-in-spinlab-studio

Waterhouse VC has secured a 3-year option to acquire an interest in Spinlab Studio, a no-code iGaming platform aimed at helping operators launch and scale online betting and casino businesses without building full infrastructure.

Spinlab Studio positions its product as a full-stack platform that streamlines integrations across payments, games, compliance and backend systems. The company says the platform is built to support operators targeting regulated markets, with compliance, payments and responsible gambling tools included in the core product.

Tom Waterhouse, Chief Investment Officer of Waterhouse VC said “Spinlab Studio is one of the fastest-moving platforms we’ve seen in this space, with strong early demand from operators. They are addressing a key operational challenge – helping operators bring products to market more efficiently and quickly without the usual complexity”.

Leon Lanen, Co-Founder of Spinlab Studio said “Launching an igaming operation is still too complex and expensive. Spinlab Studio removes that friction so operators can get to market quickly and focus on building their business. We aim to do for the igaming industry what Shopify did to e-commerce”.

Spinlab Studio said it launched in January 2026 and has onboarded around 30 operators. It offers a free trial and pricing that starts from approximately US$1299 per month, with tiered plans that scale with operator activity. The company also said it recently closed an oversubscribed seed round backed by founders and early investors of “one of Europe’s leading listed igaming technology companies”, with proceeds allocated to sales expansion and platform development.

The post Waterhouse VC takes 3-year option to buy stake in Spinlab Studio appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Conferences

Gaming in Holland Conference publishes initial agenda for June 4 in Amsterdam

Published

39 minutes ago

May 11, 2026

Wladimir P.

gaming-in-holland-conference-publishes-initial-agenda-for-june-4-in-amsterdam

Gaming in Holland has published the initial agenda for the Gaming in Holland Conference, set for Thursday, June 4 at the KIT Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam.

The preliminary programme includes a keynote on “Market developments & regulatory responses” from Ella Seijsener, Director Licensing & Supervision at the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA). Two boardroom sessions are confirmed with Arjan Blok, CEO of Nederlandse Loterij, and Petra de Ruiter, CEO of Holland Casino.

Other listed sessions include “The challenge of the black market: Towards a European response” with Pascal Chaffard, Chief Online Betting and Gaming Officer at FDJ United; “The Dutch gambling market in numbers” with Josh Hodgson, COO at H2 Gambling Capital; and “Player protection in the Dutch market” with Floor van Bakkum, Team Manager Player Protection at the KSA.

A panel titled “#ReclaimTheMarket: Will players go along?” will feature Dr. Andreas Ditsche (iGaming.com) and Richard Dennys (Mr. Gamble), moderated by Martin van Geest (Meneer Casino). Additional agenda items include a session on comparing onshore and offshore game popularity (Jeffrey Haas, Blask Business Intelligence) and one on KSA reliability assessments covering licensing and M&A approval (Frank Tolboom, Franssen Tolboom Advocaten).

Gaming in Holland founder Willem van Oort said: “While the annual Gaming in Holland Conference has always been THE place to get the latest news and updates on the Dutch gambling market, this year we are tackling one of the major issues facing licensed operators in regulated markets: How do we reclaim lost market share from increasingly aggressive illegal competitors? Obviously, there are no simple solutions, but that doesn’t mean that stakeholders in the regulated market are powerless. As all key decision makers and stakeholders in the regulated Dutch gambling market will be present in Amsterdam, I am certain that we can get a fruitful discussion started.”

The post Gaming in Holland Conference publishes initial agenda for June 4 in Amsterdam appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.