Affiliate compliance and working together

Thomas Jones, founder of BingoSites.co.uk, says that operators, affiliates and regulators must work together when it comes to compliance

The online gambling affiliate ecosystem is going through a period of significant change right now.

Compliance is an absolute requirement from operators, with affiliates having to make substantial – sometimes even drastic – changes to ensure they are playing by the rules.

This can be anything from changing the design and layout of their sites to re-writing huge volumes of content to make sure that the requirements set by operators are being met.

The difficulty for affiliates is that these requirements are regularly changing while operators better understand what is expected of them by the UK Gambling Commission and other regulators.

To make matters more complicated, it is often the case that different operators require different things. Take “free spins” – they can be referred to as extra spins, cash spins, wager free spins, etc.

Any respectable affiliate understands why operators are having to prioritise compliance, and they too should wish to create an environment when players are properly protected.

But at the moment the process of ensuring affiliate compliance feels a little chaotic, lacking direction and a common understanding of what is and is not acceptable.

At present, it feels as though everyone is working at arms-length, passing on the responsibility of compliance to the other – even though operators are ultimately responsible.

To improve, all parties – operators, affiliates, regulators and watchdogs – must work more closely together and achieve this shared goal of better protecting players.

What we are doing to help the cause:

We have come to learn that one of the greatest potentials for compliance breaches is around the bonus offers we promote on behalf of our operator partners, and the T&Cs they come with.

To help mitigate this risk, we work closely with our partners to ensure that we are promoting the latest offers and that all terms and conditions are correct and up to date.

Where suitable, we also ensure that significant terms and conditions can be accessed next to the bonus, usually by hovering over the T&Cs icon.

In addition to this, we allow the affiliate managers we work with to read the reviews we write about their brands and check for any inaccurate information or compliance concerns.

We have found this open and honest approach to have worked incredibly well. As an affiliate, we have nothing to hide and want to do everything we can to ensure compliance.

In addition to this, we provide our readers with guides that explain how to gamble responsibly, how wagering requirements work and how to set limits to manage their play.

For us, we want to be referring players that are healthy and happy when playing at online bingo and casino sites – both for their own well-being and the sustainability of our business.

What we would like to see from operators:

The vast majority of online gambling brands we work with are very helpful and accommodating when it comes to compliance.

That being said, we believe it would be hugely beneficial if operators could provide affiliates with compliance guidelines and documents.

This should include the correct welcome offer and terms and conditions, and any requirements around certain terminology and phrasing.

In addition to this, they should provide the latest logos, graphics and images to be used, as well as guidance around publishing content of social media.

Most will provide this if asked, but it really should be sent automatically when an affiliate signs up to an operator’s programme.

Joining forces for improved compliance:

We also believe that more needs to be done when it comes to regulators and watchdogs working with operators and affiliates to better protect players.

At present, it seems as though the regulator has told operators the buck stops with them but haven’t provided crystal clear guidelines as to what is and is not acceptable.

For operators and affiliates to truly understand what standards they should be meeting, it is vital that regulators provide such guidance.

While there have been some complaints about the new requirements operators and affiliates have to adhere to, they are ultimately the right approach for the industry to take.

These changes are flushing out the bad actors and ensuring only those meeting the highest standards remain and this can only be a good thing for operators, affiliates and players.