Latest News

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.”

Altenar

Altenar rolls out World Cup Lobby event hub for sportsbook operators

Published

12 minutes ago

May 20, 2026

Wladimir P.

altenar-rolls-out-world-cup-lobby-event-hub-for-sportsbook-operators

Altenar has launched a dedicated World Cup Lobby designed to help sportsbook operators package World Cup content in a single event hub during this summer’s tournament.

The company said the lobby is built for high-traffic periods, with a curated destination where operators can surface relevant markets, statistics, promotions and betting opportunities in one place. Altenar pointed to a “record 104 matches” across 16 cities as the context for simplifying tournament discovery and navigation.

The World Cup Lobby combines Altenar’s sportsbook with widgets and navigation built for major tournaments. Altenar said interactive team and player carousels surface BetCards, markets and promotions via swipeable feeds, with team and player pages providing access to statistics and related betting opportunities.

Other features include integrated standings, knockout trees and outright markets, aiming to keep users moving between matches, teams, players and selections without switching across multiple pages. Altenar said operators can localise the lobby by prioritising teams, competitions and markets for regional audiences, and use player behaviour to surface personalised recommendations.

Nikos Zygouris, Head of Sportsbook Product at Altenar, said: “Major tournaments such as this year’s World Cup create huge engagement and our goal with the new lobby is to build an environment where players can explore everything around the competition in one place.

“The World Cup Lobby brings together markets, statistics, teams and personalised recommendations into a single experience, helping operators to deliver a more intuitive and engaging sportsbook during the biggest moments in the sporting calendar.”

The post Altenar rolls out World Cup Lobby event hub for sportsbook operators appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Latest News

N1 Partners Drops Prediction Markets Vertical — Expand Your Traffic Strategy!

Published

1 hour ago

May 20, 2026

Wladimir P.

n1-partners-drops-prediction-markets-vertical-—-expand-your-traffic-strategy!

N1 Partners team has launched a new Prediction Markets vertical on the N1 Bet product, which is a new betting format for real events with simple yes/no mechanics. This is the first and so far the only SOFTSWISS product that works with this niche.

This vertical opens up expanded opportunities for partners: it provides access to a fresh audience, and also allows you to monetize and scale traffic from various sources — from politics and finance to entertainment and show business — as efficiently as possible.

What is the real benefit for partners and how does it work? Read all about the Prediction Markets vertical in the article.

Prediction Markets vertical: what is it?

Prediction Markets is a unique betting format for real non-sporting events, where the user chooses “yes” or “no” to the potential event outcome (for example, elections, the Eurovision Contest, the Oscar Awards).

Users can bet on topics in the following areas:

politics (elections, geopolitical events)
cryptocurrencies and financial markets
technology and business
social trends and global narratives
entertainment and show business

The format is as simple as possible, does not require experience and knowledge in classic betting, therefore it may be of interest to a wide audience.

Why is the Prediction Markets format worth a test?

It is crucial to note that Prediction Markets is not just another feature; it is a unique vertical that gives access to a new, previously non-converting audience.

Reasons to test Prediction Markets:

The threshold for the first conversion is lower than in betting;
Works great with SEO and content traffic (news, trends, cryptosphere, politics, entertainment);
High interest in the vertical during trending events;
Opportunity to monetize an audience that doesn’t bet on sports or casinos.;
It is possible to transfer users to the casino and vertical betting;
Provides a smooth user path within the product.

Moreover, the format is as native as possible — real events constantly create new reasons for returning players, forming stable retention and LTV.

Thus, Prediction Markets is a great way to monetize an audience that has not made a profit before, and with N1 Partners you can do this as simply and efficiently as possible.

Wanna be the first to gain access to a fresh audience? Test Prediction Markets with N1 Partners now!

Scale your results with N1 Partners:

14+ casino and betting brands with high Reg2Dep
10+ Tier-1 GEOs
CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55% + NNCO for top affiliates

Be number one with N1!

The post N1 Partners Drops Prediction Markets Vertical — Expand Your Traffic Strategy! appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Latest News

LuckyStreak Enters into Partnership with QTech Games

Published

1 hour ago

May 20, 2026

Wladimir P.

luckystreak-enters-into-partnership-with-qtech-games

LuckyStreak, the Riga-based live games provider, has has entered into a new partnership with QTech Games, a leading game aggregator for all emerging markets, to provide best-in-class live dealer games and LuckyConnect aggregation services across its global platform.

LuckyStreak produces high-quality, immersive live dealer games at its state-of-the-art studio in Riga, Latvia, streamed to thousands of online casinos worldwide. The provider is renowned for delivering a premium experience, with QTech’s customers set to benefit from intuitive gameplay, innovative features and HD-quality streaming.

QTech Games celebrated its 10-year anniversary last year, progressing since inception from double-digit growth during its formative years to dominate an eclectic spectrum of emerging markets. To which end, it’s now a fully-fledged international powerhouse – with a reach that extends from Asia and Africa, and on to CIS-facing territories, Europe (including its new tech-hub in Spain; and offices in Malta) and Latin America.

Rory Kimber, Commercial Director at LuckyStreak, said: “We’re delighted to be working with QTech, a truly global iGaming platform solutions provider, to distribute our products to the wide range of operators they serve in a vast array of their growing markets.

“Our Live Casino product, with its fully localised capability, is perfectly suited to the breadth of territories that QTech serve, and their technology will allow the sharpest and smoothest experience for players at our tables.”

Philip Doftvik, CEO at QTech Games, said: “We’re delighted to team up with LuckyStreak, a brand renowned for its burgeoning best-in-class live casino. Naturally, we were keen to add them to our aggregation platform’s existing multifaceted live-casino catalogue, as we continue to bring together the most comprehensive collection on the market.

“Of course, there’s a huge revenue opportunity, since live dealer is such a thriving online sector in its own right. Seamless integration equips our clients with best-in-breed live games for their end users, while unrivalled customization options, dedicated tables and native-speaking dealers also make it simple to tailor the UX to any specific market’s requirements.

“LuckyStreak’s commitment to delivering engaging live-player experiences offers players, who love these games, the visceral thrill of playing in a real-world casino, while QTech’s peerless localised expertise creates fresh pathways to new audiences from Africa to LatAm, where this iGaming format is in increasing demand. We can’t wait to see how these games perform across a range of new markets.”

The post LuckyStreak Enters into Partnership with QTech Games appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.