According to Norway’s Klassekampen media
portal, the order was issued on March 29th, when the Gaming Authority (NGA)
informed banks to cease transactions on several blacklisted accounts starting
April 24th, after a previous audit of suspected unauthorized activities was
finalized.
The list includes accounts from payment providers Trustly, Entercash, Earth
Port, Worldplay, and Inpay, as well as ones from two local operators.
The NGA is claiming that a combined sum of US$ 256 million has passed through the seven accounts during 2016, while an additional US$ 58 million has flowed in during January and February of 2017 alone. Thus, the regulatory authority decided to lean on the banks to prevent the flow of unregulated gambling activities.
The said measures come several months after
the Norwegian government revealed a decision to preserve the status quo when it
comes to licensing operators near the end of December 2016.
Prior to the decision, the government suggested they might be liberating the
online gambling market only to have a change of heart and decide to protect the
split monopoly between Norway’s Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto operators,
claiming that it was the best solution to achieve their responsible gaming
goals.
