AGCO issues CA$150k penalty to PointsBet
The AGCO has recently fined PointsBet 150 thousand Canadian dollars for various responsible gambling shortcomings.
The first of the firm’s failures mentioned by the AGCO was PointsBet’s failure to provide adequate support to its customers who were likely being affected by various harms related to problematic gambling behaviors. The regulator stated that in one instance, a user lost over half a million dollars over the span of three months, which flagged them as a player who had a high probability of being affected by gambling problems in the company’s internal platform. AGCO mentioned that despite this, PointsBet did not intervene to further assess the user’s situation.
The authority also stated that the operator was utilizing direct advertisements even in the absence of customer consent. The AGCO mentioned that in cases where a customer withdrew their consent for receiving such advertisements, the operator continued depositing credits into their account, along with offering free tickets to various sports events. The regulator added that in one such case, a player received a total of 35.5 thousand dollars worth of credits on numerous occasions while no longer consenting to receiving such offers.
AGCO mentioned that PointsBet also was not able to make sure that its employees fully understood why responsible gambling measures are important and were trained appropriately to assist potential problem gamblers in an adequate manner.