Affiliate Announcements
Tombola shocks affiliate world: Dutch affiliates forced to pay 1125 for compliance check
Tombola, one of the largest online bingo sites globally, has decided to require affiliates who want to promote the Tombola bingo site in the Netherlands to take a compliance check with a legal consultancy firm. In the first year, this compliance check costs 1125 euros per website. Tombola is the first company in the industry to operate in this way.
Affiliates cannot choose by whom they want to conduct the compliance check. Tombola only accepts the compliance check of the legal consultancy firm XY Legal Solutions BV.
XY Legal has set up the KVA seal of approval as a brand for their compliance check. The KVA seal should not be confused with the KSA, the Dutch Gaming Authority. The KVA has nothing to do with the KSA, and is not accredited by the KSA.
XY Legal charges 1125 euros per website for their commercial KVA quality mark. After the first year, affiliates must pay another 725 euros per year per website to remain compliant.
Jan Westerhoff, Dutch igaming specialist at Nieuwslog.nl explains that this means an extra cost of tens of thousands of euros for affiliate companies with a large number of websites.
Marc Smit, country manager Netherlands at Tombola, indicates that this set-up was chosen because Tombola has no Dutch affiliate compliance employees.
“We do indeed set the KVA seal of approval as a condition for starting an affiliate program at Tombola. We believe that an affiliate partner should be tested,” says Marc Smit.
XY Legal indicates that their compliance check is not quantitative and that not the entire website will be checked. The general terms and conditions clearly state, “This means that not the entire website gets a full check.”.
Mr Steven Vrolijk of XY Legal indicates, “As mentioned, we always emphasize in communication that providers do well to also maintain their own compliance checks.”.
Therefore, it is unclear why Tombola seems to sail blindly on the expensive seal of approval of XY Legal and thus drives affiliates to high costs.
Jan Westerhoff says: “Tombola is the only provider with a Dutch KSA license that imposes this requirement. All other operators on the Dutch market, such as Bet365 and Betcity, do their own compliance check, and those companies do not charge affiliates for this.”.
“As far as is I known, Tombola.nl is unique in the igaming industry with their way of forcing affiliates to buy a seal from a commercial consultancy firm.”.
It seems that Tombola is trying to cut back on their compliance costs by making the affiliate pay for these costs. Marc Smit confirms: “Tombola will not pay for this (the compliance check, ed.).”.
Tombola’s decision created shockwaves in the igaming world. According to Jan Westerhoff this will create an unworkable situation in the affiliate market if other operators follow. “Imagine all the extra costs involved if every operator would require a compliance check from a different consultancy firm. This would mean gigantic bills for affiliate companies, and the only winners would be the money-grabbing consultants who want to make a quick buck.”.
The KVA seal of approval is not entirely uncontroversial. Several affiliates who have the seal are mentioned as customers on the website of XY Legal Solutions. Entanglement of interests seems to be lurking. The legal consultancy firm does indicate that every affiliate website must meet the same requirements. The question is how they guarantee this.
4ThePlayer is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Slots Launch. This collaboration will allow us to reach more affiliates and, in turn, even more players.
Slots Launch is a trusted and responsible platform for affiliates, providing 4ThePlayer with an excellent space to showcase our demo games to a broader audience.
Affiliates working with Slots Launch will have full access to our demo games, with 34 titles already available and more exciting titles to be added soon.
Henry McLean, Co-founder and Commercial & Marketing Director at 4ThePlayer, shared his excitement: “We’re thrilled to partner with Slots Launch to boost our content and drive more engagement with affiliates. It’s the perfect platform to help our games take off!”
By collaborating with 4ThePlayer, Slots Launch continues to provide affiliates with access to the best demo games on the market. Our innovative games enhance their platform, offering a fresh and engaging experience for players globally.
Affiliate Announcements
Stase Blitz: ‘For PIN-UP Partners, iGB L!VE is a trove of opportunities and sets the tone for the rest of the year’
PIN-UP Partners will be attending iGB LIVE 2024 with a mission to be at the vanguard of the affiliate sector and a pledge to set new trends as the industry prepares to bid farewell to Amsterdam ahead of iGB L!VE’s relocation to London in July 2025.
PIN-UP Partners will be using its iGB L!VE presence to build new partnerships and find affiliates as CMO Stase Blitz confirmed: “For PIN-UP Partners, iGB L!VE is a trove of opportunities, as the event brings together the best and the brightest of the iGaming industry. Every year, iGB L!VE delivers for the business, and our team leaves the event with hundreds of new contacts that have the potential to really propel our business forward.”
Looking ahead to what she believes the industry will experience at the show she noted: “We can expect to be part of what will be the biggest edition of iGB L!VE there has ever been which would be the best possible way to say a big thanks to Amsterdam in advance of the move to London in 2025.
“Like everyone in our field we are always looking to identify new affiliates and iGB L!VE provides us with the perfect platform to do exactly that. For our part we will be using our presence on booth 11-D50 to launch amazing terms for our offers alongside some catwalk-worthy merch!”
She added: “One of our goals is to build a strong community: harnessing the power of people who are the greatest influence on any industry – but in particular ours! At iGB L!VE we are planning to host a grand event where we can gather our friends and partners for networking and so much more, so don’t forget to stop by our booth!
“The PIN-UP Partners team is delighted to be a part of the iGaming industry’s greatest event.”
QMRA was launched as a quality mark for iGaming affiliates at the beginning of February.
QMRA is the international follow up of KVA (https://kva.nl/), a successful Dutch iGaming Quality Mark (over 85 Dutch member websites, 10 connected operators among which bet365, LeoVegas, 711, tombola and more).
QMRA is available for the following markets:
Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, USA Michigan, UK, Poland and Estonia
Various well known international affiliate companies joined QMRA already:
- Game Lounge, Gaming Innovation Group and Leadstar Media
Now, Applied Digital Media is part of our initiative as well: Casino.dk, OnlineCasino.be and OnlinePoker.se have been found compliant.
The above websites have been checked by our compliance team, following the applicable law (relevant for affiliates) in the respective jurisdictions. All websites received a report on how they comply with our QMRA codes:
https://qmra.eu/active-markets/belgium/, https://qmra.eu/active-markets/sweden/, https://qmra.eu/active-markets/denmark/
We expect to add more members in the coming weeks and invite anyone, active within one of the QMRA jurisdictions, to join us!
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