Stars Group Axes iDeal Payments Solution For Dutch Players

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Sep 7, 2018

Is local payments provider a trigger for action by Kansspelautoriteit?

Dutch players have reported receiving emails from The Stars Group advising them that it is withdrawing the local payment provider facility iDeal from Dutch players.

The operators explained in its communication that the use of iDEAL has become “a key trigger” for the launch of investigations by the increasingly militant regulator Kansspelautoriteit, which has warned that any online gambling operators previously sanctioned by it would not be granted a licence, once the local market is regulated.

Consequently TSG was left with little choice but to remove iDeal for Dutch players, the message claimed.

The emails have triggered speculation that TSG has possibly become the latest operator to be warned off by Kansspelautoriteit

Operators are treading warily following the recent imposition of a Euro 300,000 fine on Betsson subsidiary Corona Limited, which operates the Oranje and Kroon online casinos (see previous InfoPowa reports).

The disincentive is not so much the fine as the concern that when the Dutch online market is finally legalised, operators who have been sanctioned by the regulator will be disqualified from obtaining a Dutch licence.

Dutch lawmakers are back at work after the summer recess but there is as yet no indication as to progress on the online gambling legislation which has lain dormant in the Senate for the past two years, having been the subject of drafting and debate for over a decade.

In July this year Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker proposed that the disqualification provisions against previously sanctioned operators in the current draft be amended, but the regulator has voiced opposition to the suggestion.

Brian Cullingworth

Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.

We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.

His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.


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