The suspension is effective immediately, with the Commission suspecting In Touch of not following licence conditions related to certain criteria.
Areas flagged by the regulator include conditions concerning money laundering, fair and transparent terms and practices and reporting key events.
The suspension will remain in place while the Commission carries out a review of In Touch and its activities. This is in accordance with section 118 (2) of the Gambling Act 2005. The review is taking place under section 116 of the Act.
In Touch’s British licences cover online casino, bingo and gambling software. Its brands include Bonusboss.co.uk, Cashmo.co.uk, Casino.mfortune.co.uk, Casino2020.co.uk, Drslot.co.uk, Jammymonkey.com, Mfortune.co.uk, Mrspin.co.uk, Pocketwin.co.uk and Slotfactory.com.
“We have made it clear to the operator that during the course of the suspension we expect it to focus on treating consumers fairly and keeping them fully informed of any developments which impact them,” the Commission said.
“The suspension does not prevent the operator from allowing consumers to access their accounts and withdrawing funds. In Touch Games can be contacted through its websites.”
BGC suspends In Touch’s membership
Following confirmation of the licence suspension, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) announced that it was suspending In Touch as a member.
In a statement, the BGC said the decision is in line with its “strict” rules on membership and standards.
“Following the suspension of their operating licence by the Gambling Commission, consistent with our strict rules, we are immediately suspending In Touch Games Ltd’s membership of the BGC while the details of the case are investigated,” the BGC said.
“As the standards body representing the regulated industry, our top priority is ensuring that the interests of In Touch Games Ltd’s customers are protected.”
In Touch suspension follows £6.1m fine
The suspension comes after In Touch was fined £6.1m (€7.1m/$7.7m) by the Commission in January of this year. This was for a series of social responsibility and money laundering failures.
At the time, the regulator said the operator failed a compliance assessment in March 2022. It took action as a result of this.
Social responsibility failures included In Touch not interacting with a customer until seven weeks after being flagged for interaction for erratic play patterns and extended periods of play.
It was also found to have accepted a customer’s word they earned £6,000 a month without verifying this information. This was after the player’s account was flagged due to customer spend and gambling during unsociable hours.
Anti-money laundering failures included not adequately taking account of the risk of a user being a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, having links to high-risk jurisdictions, or being a politically exposed person (PEP), family member of a PEP or known close associates of a PEP, within its money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment.
The regulator also said In Touch did not have policies, procedures and controls in to address key risk factors.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/legal/gb-suspends-in-touch-games/
