GVC Holdings has confirmed and secured its future in Germany, announcing on October 12 that it had received four sports-betting licenses in the country. The company had received the licenses on October 9 for its bwin, SportingBet, Ladbrokes and Gamebookers brands.
The license will allow each of the brands to continue offering sports-betting products in Germany. This allows GVC Holdings to smoothly transition under the new Tolerance Policy.
Under the new licenses, each brand must set a wagering limit of €1,000 euros per month, increasing to €10,000 if criteria are met. A 1% of customers, likely VIPs, may see it further increased to €30,000 with more criteria being met. There are also new strict deposit limits until Know Your Customer (KYC) checks are met, and bonuses have been curbed to a maximum of €100 per year.
Operators must also meet strict responsibility requirement. GVC’s bwin brand joined a chorus of other operators recently decrying that some of the requirements demanded of them have a “unrealistically tight implementation deadline.” Operators were told they would have two weeks to shut off online casino table games, at least until individual states offered licenses, and in-play sports betting markets would have to be reduced.