According to the regulator, Betsson Nordic violated Chapter 11, Section 2 of the Swedish Gaming Act by selling games through unregistered agents and allowing customers to fund their accounts with retail vouchers.
In addition, the SGA found that a Betsson-branded Mastercard had been offering players illegal bonuses which were not limited to a first-play basis.
The vouchers and Mastercard were launched in March 2019 through convenience store chains Pressbyrån and 7-Eleven.
The SEK 20m penalty fee was determined by the Swedish Gambling Authority based on the number of violations and the fact they had been occurring for between six and 12 months.
In a statement sent to Gambling Insider, Betsson said the sanction came “as a surprise” and confirmed it will be appealing the SGA’s decision on both counts.
The operator argued that its actions had been compliant with the Swedish Gambling Act and that Betsson Nordic had not offered any commercial incentives connected to the Betsson Mastercard.
Bethard Group has also received an SGA penalty fee of SEK 400,000 for allowing betting on footballers under the age of 18-years-old.
The operator offered betting on two Under-19 football matches, with the majority of players under the age of 18.
After the original offence in June 2019, the Gaming Inspection issued a penalty fee of SEK 2.5m, but this was overturned by the Administrative Court after an appeal.
