Insights Archive

December 10, 2021

Maryland Launches Retail Sports Betting, Mobile Expected In 2022

MGM Resorts International opened a BetMGM-branded sportsbook at its National Harbor casino on Thursday, as Maryland became the 11th state to launch legal sports betting this year.

December 10, 2021

UK Details Compliance, Enforcement Crackdowns

The UK Gambling Commission’s Compliance and Enforcement Report details a record-breaking volume of fines and pinpointed “unacceptable” failings.

December 10, 2021

News In Brief: December 6-December 10, 2021

Bet-at-Home Austria enters administration, Buenos Aires launches online gambling and NagaCorp wins social award despite firings.

December 9, 2021

Australia Commits To Next Generation Payments Reform

By mid-2022, the government will have set out plans for payments modernisation and new crypto laws in what “will be the most significant reforms for 25 years”, the country’s finance minister has confirmed.

December 9, 2021

Sign Of The Times: Visa Launches Crypto Consultancy

Visa has announced that it is launching a new crypto advisory service, alongside new research which has found that 41 percent of UK adults either use cryptocurrencies or view them positively.

December 9, 2021

New Hungarian Superbank Draws Inspiration From Tesla And Asimov

As the first part in the merger of three Hungarian banks draws close, the new "superbank" will aim to shake up the financial services market in the country and throughout Eastern Europe with a focus on modernisation and digitalisation.

December 9, 2021

DeFi Is An Illusion, BIS Says

A new report by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) says decentralised finance (DeFi) is an illusion and may impose severe vulnerabilities on financial stability.

December 9, 2021

Ohio Legislature Approves Sports-Betting Package

Legislation to permit sports betting in Ohio is heading for the governor’s desk after a whirlwind day where the bill was amended and approved by both chambers of the state legislature.

December 9, 2021

Regulators Pick Developers For Illinois Casino Projects

Illinois gaming regulators voted unanimously Wednesday to grant findings of “preliminary suitability” to developers for new casinos in Waukegan and the southern suburbs of Cook County, bringing a selection process that has lasted more than two years closer to an end.

December 9, 2021

UK Gambling Minister Backs 'Proportionate' Affordability Checks

The new UK minister for gambling has called for “proportionate” affordability checks and backed a “single customer view” to share data across multiple operators to detect problem gambling behaviour.

December 8, 2021

Competition Winners Upbeat For Private Sector Opportunities In CBDC Race

Disintermediation for some or an opportunity to play a central role in the new payments paradigm? VIXIO discusses the increasingly real prospect of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) with the three winners of the recent Singapore CBDC Global Challenge.

December 8, 2021

News In Brief - Worldline Buys Greek Merchant Acquirer

Payments processor Worldline has announced the acquisition of an 80 percent stake in Greece’s Eurobank Merchant Acquiring services for €256m.

December 8, 2021

Fraudsters Shift Focus To Company Executives At Payment Firms

A new payment fraud trend report published by the European Payments Council finds company executives, payment service providers and payment infrastructures have become the main target of fraudsters.

December 8, 2021

Update: U.S. Turns Eye To AML Gaps Revealed By Pandora Papers

Two months after the leakage of millions of confidential files that became known as Pandora Papers, the first-ever U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption is now looking at financial system gatekeepers to address deficiencies in the U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) regime.

December 8, 2021

FCA Outlines Consumer Duty Plans

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has put out a new consultation confirming its Consumer Duty rules will be in place by July 2022.

December 8, 2021

Delays Expected To Finnish Gambling Law

The Finnish government's long-awaited Lottery Act amendment proposal has hit a major payment blocking roadblock, following the release of the Constitutional Committee’s opinion on the proposal on December 1.

December 8, 2021

Missouri Seeks Solution To Grey-Market Games, No Love For Virginia's Skill Game Ban

Despite overwhelming opposition from the Missouri gaming industry, a veteran state senator will continue his efforts in the next legislative session to legalize video lottery terminals in bars and truck stops to replace thousands of unregulated devices.

December 8, 2021

New Rules Allow Philippine Taxman To Close POGO Networks

A new taxation and oversight regime is in force for foreign-facing online gaming operators (POGOs) in the Philippines, tightening POGO scrutiny and ramping punishment for tax delinquency and labour violations.

December 7, 2021

Experts Question Effectiveness Of Latest Sanctions On Belarus

In a coordinated action, the US, EU, UK, and Canada have imposed new sanctions on the eastern European state. However, experts are divided on just how impactful they will be.

December 7, 2021

Consumers Still Do Not Know How Fintechs Collect Data

A new survey by the interbank payments company, The Clearing House (TCH), shows U.S. consumers know little about fintechs’ data collection and sharing practices.

December 7, 2021

India Launches Government-Backed Digital Wallet To Promote Financial Inclusion

As part of the Digital India initiative, India has announced the launch of CSCPay, a new digital application to support the inclusion of the rural population into digital payments.