AG Communications Meets Self-Exclusion Standards in Sweden

• Aspire Global’s gaming subsidiary in Sweden catches up to Spelpaus self-exclusion standards
• Effectiveness of such schemes is now tested in the United Kingdom

The Swedish iGaming market continues to grow, with the Spelinspektionen awarding license on January 18. As of this moment, there are 64 companies that operate legally in the country. However, some of them have been lacking proper self-exclusion compliance, with Aspire Global quickly fixing a flaw in its own offer.

AG Communications Makes Sure It’s Compliant with Swedish Self-Exclusion

After successfully obtaining a license on December 21, 2018, Aspire Global’s subsidiary, AG Communications, has now been fully-vetted and deemed ready to meet Sweden’s self-exclusion scheme provisions.

AG Communications first met criticism by the Spelinspektionen, the re-named national regulator, over supposed failures to meet the nation’s iGaming standards, despite outlining plans to do so.

Specifically, the subsidiary had failed to successfully integrate its offer into Spelpaus, Sweden’s equivalent of GamStop, UK’s self-exclusion scheme.

GamStop Self-Exclusion Scheme Flawed, BBC Report Says

Starting operations on January 1, AG Communications was immediately faced with Spelinspektionen criticism over failure to meet the most rudiment of requirements.

The watch dog threatened sanctions and possibly revoking the company’s license if it continued to operate without reaching the legal minimum.

On January 10, the company decided to halt its online operations so as to avoid running head-on against the regulator. AG Communications wasn’t the only company in hot water as Genesis Global was also targeted by the regulator.

However, the company had managed to successfully implement its offer with Spelpaus by January 14, dissipating any unwanted attention from the Spelinspektionen.

Do Self-Exclusion Schemes Really Work?

There’s been debate about the effectiveness of self-exclusion gaming options. Last year, Denmark was cited as the only country in the entire European Union (EU) to successfully protect its consumers.

Sweden is determined to replicate this success as it keeps a close eye on its compliance program. However, the United Kingdom has been met with failure to successfully protect customers. A few weeks ago, the national self-exclusion program, GamStop, has been identified as unreliable by BBC journalists.

According to the investigation, it was possible for individuals to still place wagers after they had placed wagers, by either changing a letter in their legal names or switching their e-mails, or most commonly – both.

As a result, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has vowed to look into GamStop once again.

Instead of hailing the program, though, the watch dog wants serious proof about the effectiveness of the self-exclusion program. The watchdog has been revving up its efforts, mete out solid punishments over the last few months as well, from Sky Bet to William Hill.

Tougher ID checks are also considered, with the country’s banks all teaming up to allow people to exclude themselves from gambling if they want to, when it comes to credit card payments.