The online gambling giant 888 is being hit with a £9.4 million ($12.6 million USD) fine by the British Gambling Commission (BGC) for a variety of compliance failures. It’s one of the biggest fines ever issued by the regulator and sends a clear message to other UK-facing operators.
888’s regulatory failures run the gambit from failing from not properly checking the sources of player funding to, “Giving a customer they knew was an NHS worker earning £1,400 ($1800 USD) a month a monthly deposit cap of £1,300 ($1743 USD).” Regulators also said 888 failed to clearly state what sort of source of funding (SOF) documentation was required from players in the first place.
While this appears to be the largest fine 888 has ever faced, may be the biggest fine any UK operator has faced from the BGC, the company is not a stranger to severe regulatory action. Back in 2017, the BGC (then the UKGC) fined 888 £7.8 million ($10.4 million USD) for a similar set of compliance infractions.
In an official statement posted on the BGC website, Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission Chief Executive summed up 888’s big penalties saying, “The circumstances of the last enforcement action may be different but both cases involve failing consumers – and this is something that is not acceptable.”
“Today’s fine is one of our largest to date, and all should be clear that if there is a repeat of the failures at 888 then we have to seriously consider the suitability of the operator to uphold the licensing objectives and keep gambling safe and crime-free.”
888 operates 78 gaming sites, though it’s unclear which sites were responsible for these specific compliance failures.