If you’ve been playing at online casinos for some time, you will most likely have received one or more emails stating that the casino is shutting down. There are plenty more casinos to play at which doesn’t make losing one much of an issue but what about your funds? Are they safe if a casino shuts shop?
The answer to this question depends a lot of the protection level the casino offers. This is what we will be looking at in this article.
What is Casino Funds Protection?
Unlike with personal bank accounts where your money is protected by the government, funds wagered and deposited into an online casino are not. However, every online casino which is licenced by the Gambling Commission and which holds customer funds must state what level of protection they offer should the business become insolvent.
There are three levels of fund protection.
- Not Protected
- Medium Protection
- High Protection
Each casino decides for themselves which category their level of protection falls into and explain this in their terms and conditions. The Gambling Commission does not approve or deny their submission but may check its accuracy.
All customer funds are kept in separate accounts from the casino’s business accounts and the level of protection applies to the protection of those accounts.
Not Protected
If the casino went bust, no extra protection is applied to customers’ funds. Customer funds are held in separate accounts but will be deemed to be assets of the business if the casino went under. This is the lowest level of protection that is required by the Gambling Commission
Medium Protection
With Medium Protection, special arrangements are made to protect the funds of customers. There may be insurance on the separate accounts where customers’ funds are held to ensure that if the company goes bust, the funds in those accounts are given to the customers.
High Protection
With the High Protection level, customers’ funds are held completely separate from company accounts. These accounts are controlled by a third-party for extra assurance.
Which Casinos Offer High Protection?
Not as many online casinos and betting sites offer high protection compared to other levels but thankfully some of the bigger names in the industry do.
| Betfair | Gala Bingo | Pokerstars |
| BetVictor | Gala Casino | Smarkets |
| Betway | Gala Spins | Tombola |
| Coral | Paddy Power |
Which Casinos Offer Medium Protection?
The majority of operators fall into the medium level of protection category as seen in the list below.
| 10bet | Foxy Bingo | Novibet |
| 32Red | Foxy Games | PartyCasino |
| 777 | GoWager | PartyPoker |
| 888casino | GrosvenorCasinos | PlayOjo |
| 888poker | Heart Bingo | QuinnBet |
| 888sport | Jackpot Jones | Rainbow Riches Casino |
| Admiral Casino | Jackpotjoy | Redbet |
| Aspers Casino | Jenningsbet | Regal Wins |
| Bet365 | Karamba | Scorching Slots |
| BetBoro | Kerching | SkyBet |
| BetBull | King Jack Casino | SpaceCasino |
| BetDaq | Kitty Bingo | Spin and Win |
| BetRegal | Kwiff | SportingBet |
| Bingo.com | LaBa360 | SportingIndex |
| Bingo Storm | Ladbrokes | SpreadEx |
| Blacktype | Loadsa Bingo | Stakers |
| Boylesports | LuckyPants Bingo | StarSpins |
| Bruce Betting | M88 | ThePools |
| Buzz Bingo | Magical Vegas | Toals |
| Bwin | Mark Jarvis | Unibet |
| Casumo | Mecca Bingo | VBet |
| Cheeky Bingo | Mega Casino | Vegas Wins |
| DafaBet | Monopoly Casino | Virgin Bet |
| Duck Duck Bingo | Mr Green | Virgin Games |
| Football Index | NetBet | William Hill |
Which Casinos Offer No Protection?
Worryingly, quite a large number of operators provide no protection to customers’ funds.
| 12bet | Dunder | Redzone Sports |
| 138 | EnergyBet | Rizk |
| 19bet | Fansbet | Royal Panda |
| 21.co.uk | Fun88 | Slots Heaven |
| 22Bet | Genting Bet | SportNation |
| Bet600 | GiveMeBet | SportPesa |
| BetConnect | Guts | Sportsbetio |
| Betfred | HollywoodBets | StarSports |
| BetHard | Legs 11 | STSBet |
| Betsafe | LeoVegas | Sun Bingo |
| BetSid | Lottoland | TelephoneBetting |
| Betsson | LVBet | TonyBet |
| BetUK | Mansionbet | Tote |
| BetVision | MarathonBet | TLCBet |
| BGO | Matchbook | UK-WL |
| Bob88 | MrQ | Volt Casino |
| Bookee | MrSpin | Yabo |
| Cashino | Pocket Win | YoBet |
| Cashmio | Premier Punt | |
| CasinoEuro | Racebets |
Does The Fund Protection Level Matter?
Absolutely!
However, we’re not saying that you should completely avoid all casinos and betting sites which don’t offer protection. Whether you deposit and wager at casinos which have no protection, medium protection or high protection is completely up to you. It may be that you do not want to risk a penny of your own money or you may be willing to leave just small amounts in your account.
But what about if you wager large sums with a casino? You may have reload offers which you do on a daily or weekly basis with a particular casino and choose to leave relatively large sums in your account to save redepositing. In these cases, you may wish to double check what protection level the casino applies to your funds.
Never assume that just because a casino is a well-known brand and has been established for some time that your funds are safe. Over the past few years we have seen several bookmakers and casinos shut down when on the outside, they seemed to be doing well popularity wise and in their active promotions.
MoPlay is one example of an operator which started strong and closed without much warning due to being declared insolvent and having their licence revoked.
This is the message which is currently displayed on the MoPlay website:
On 19th February 2020, Addison Global’s gambling licenses were suspended in the public interest, including to protect the interests of consumers. On 25th February 2020, Edgar Lavarello of PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited Gibraltar was appointed the Provisional Liquidator of Addison Global Limited by Order of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar. In consequence, all MoPlay’s activities were immediately suspended and customers have not been able to access or withdraw money from their accounts. We regret this situation and apologize for all the inconvenience and hardship caused to customers. We are presently exploring possibilities to resolve this situation by seeking to enter into arrangements with the aim of safeguarding the customer balances. We thank you for your patience and we confirm that we will make another statement to all our customers as soon as there are any developments on which we can update you.
The below is taken from section 9 of MoPlay’s Terms and Conditions:
9. How your funds will be held
9.1 To play our games and place bets, you need to deposit funds. Your funds will be held separate from company funds in a mixture of bank accounts and reserve funds which we hold with our payment processors. However, if there was ever a situation where we became insolvent, your funds would not be considered separate to the other company assets and you may not receive all your funds back.
9.2 We hold your funds in accordance with the minimum requirement for all operators. This level of protection is decided by us and meets the requirements for the protection of customer funds at the level: not protected.
9.3 Details about the protection levels can be found online. We are required by our licence to inform you about what happens to funds we hold on account for you in the event of insolvency as set out above. The British Gambling Commission website also contains further details about customer fund protection and can be found at https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/for-the-public/Your-rights/Protection-of-customer-funds.aspx.
9.4 If you are unsure about how your funds are held, you can contact our Solutions Team. You should make sure you are comfortable with this level of protection before you deposit any funds with us.
Section 9.1 states that customers’ funds are held separate from company funds. However, don’t let this fool you into thinking that your funds are protected as this is the case with all levels of protection.
It also stats that if the company becomes insolvent, your funds will not be considered separate to the companies assets and that you may not receive your funds back!
This is because MoPlay offered NO PROTECTION on customer funds. The lowest accepted level.
MoPlay were a popular online bookmaker and casino which ran a number of betting offers on a regular basis and it’s likely that if you will have had an account and deposited if you have been matched betting throughout the past year. So, did you know that MoPlay offered the lowest level of funds protection and that you may not receive any of your funds back if they shut down?
Maybe but most likely not.
If this bothers you and you would be set back if you lost the funds in any of your betting accounts then you should check the level of protection a casino is offering BEFORE depositing.
You can use the list on this page as a reference but please check the terms and conditions for this information. Operators are required to disclose this information in their terms and so it shouldn’t take long to find out what level of funds protection they offer.
Conclusion
There are three levels of protection which betting operators apply to customers’ funds. No protection, Medium Protection and High Protection.
If you are betting with a casino which has high protection then you should not worry about your funds. They are protected at the highest level.
If a casino has medium level protection, you should be somewhat confident that your funds are safe in an event of insolvency. However, not as high a level as above.
If you are betting with a casino which offers no protection, then you need to be aware of this and decide if it a chance you wish to take.
There are plenty of casinos and betting sites which offer no protection as can be seen in the list above. Many of these will continue to run as normal for a long time with customers having no issues depositing and withdrawing. However, if they were to go under, your funds may be at risk.
