The French regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (or ANJ) is looking at banning bonuses for what they call “excessive gamblers” in an attempt to curb gambling harm. There are also plans to implement a welcome bonus cap of €100.
These actions come in the form of the ANJ issuing a numbers of binding guidelines and non-binding “recommendations” for operators. The new guidelines are not far from the ANJ’s previous guidance on marketing in the gambling industry, but amongst the guidelines were new ideas on offering bonuses to players who are at risk of harm.
It said that operators should “ensure that no commercial offer includes financial reward to people identified as potentially having excessive or pathological gambling”; “exercise particular vigilance with regard to people who have recently benefited from a self-exclusion measure or a gambling ban”; and “avoid any allegation of an alleged absence of risk”.
As for the cap on bonus offers, the guidelines say that the language used to market the bonuses must include its duration time if time-limited, the wagering requirements and whether the reward is withdrawable in cash or “credits”.
“Write the complete rules of the financial reward offer in a legible and understandable manner and make them available on an easily accessible medium,” the ANJ said.
