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Dunder Casino Pulling Out of UK on 30th October
By Jeff Osienya Oct 19, 2020 IndustryAfter nearly two years of serving players in the United Kingdom, Dunder Casino has decided to close its UK operations. No information has been relayed about the decision, but tighter market regulations and the Coronavirus could have led to the exit.Dunder (Dunder.com), a Malta-based iGaming platform operated by MT SecureTrade disclosed that it will be exiting the United Kingdom market by the end of October. The online casino confirmed the untimely news to its patrons and partners via email stating that it would begin a phased shutdown of its activities in the UK which will completely be shut down by the end of the month.
The online operator released a timetable highlighting its imminent closure of UK operations and starting last Thursday, Dunder had started terminating all its advertising inventory for media and affiliates. Part of its statement that was sent to the media and affiliate partners last week read as follows;
Quote“Dear Dunder Partner. We regret to inform you that dunder will discontinue its operations in UK. In light of the upcoming closure, we would like to make sure that you are fully aware of the timelines and actions required from your end.
“We ask for your immediate cooperation in removing all advertising and promotional material of Dunder in relation to its UK operations by no later than 15th of October 2020.
“Kindly note that this instruction applies to all marketing efforts with immediate effect, including but not limited to banners, pop-ups, social media adverts, hyperlinks, etc.
“We would like to reiterate that this instruction applies solely to the UK market”
On top of that, the online gaming platform is no longer accepting registrations of new players and current player deposits from the UK. Players who still have balances in their gaming accounts are encouraged to cash out and Dunder is even allowing its users to cash out their remaining balances in a single withdrawal. To facilitate the closure of player accounts, the funds withdrawals have been lowered from the initial £20 threshold to a £3 lower limit.
By the 30th of October, Dunder plans to have finalized its exit from the UK market and after that, the popular iGaming operator will effectively disable all engagements from UK players, including logins and cash withdrawals.
Why is Dunder Pulling Out of the UK?
Until now, the online gaming operator hasn’t relayed any official information as to why it is walking away from the UK. However, one could easily guess that Dunder’s departure could be driven partly by the recent tightening of gambling industry restrictions in Britain.
In the past couple of years, the UK has been getting tougher on both operators and gamblers by introducing a selection of radical measures that may have made it more difficult for operators to serve their customers, and players to enjoy the thrill of gambling. This year for example, both the regulators and government right from the Prime Minister himself seem to have been waging war on gambling. Britain’s lawmakers have been pushing for reforms for the industry at large and the Public Accounts Committee also called out the UKGC in a scathing report for not doing enough to keep the industry safer.
UK’s Gambling Commission on the other hand has caved in to pressure from the government and criticisms from independent bodies like the SMF (Social Market Foundation) and has been rushing to make some tweaks such as fixing the flawed VIP schemes that some operators use.
Dunder which was one of the first online casino platforms to run on Gaming Innovation Group’s (GiG) platform had realized great success in Scandinavian markets and decided to venture into the UK back in 2018. However, its operation in the UK market has been met with some sour experiences, including a £592,333 penalty and restrictions on its operating license in May 2019 after breaching operation regulations.
Additionally, the Coronavirus pandemic might have dealt a blow to the company as it has been the case with other operators – combine that with the regulatory obstacles, Dunder may have seen it better to leave the UK.
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