Switzerland’s regulated online casino market isn’t yet a year old and it already has its first payment processing scandal.
On Wednesday, Swiss media reported that some customers of two locally licensed online casinos who funded their online accounts via PostFinance – the financial services unit of SwissPost – had woken up to the discovery that their PostFinance account balances were dramatically lower than the night before, some to the tune of “several tens of thousands of francs.”
The gamblers in question were customers of online casino sites Jackpots.ch and Casino777.ch, both of which are operated by Stadtcasino Baden Group and were among the first sites to launch in the country’s new regulated online gambling market. PostFinance is considered a socially responsible payment option with Swiss online casinos because accounts can’t be overdrawn.
It seems that a software update at PostFinance on March 17 meant that customers who transferred sums from PostFinance to the online casinos saw their funds deposited into the casino accounts without being debited from their PostFinance accounts. The technical hiccup reportedly lasted until the end of May.
Customers who didn’t keep meticulous records of their financial activity only learned of the problem on June 8, when PostFinance adjusted these customers’ account balances to reflect the online casino transfers. In some cases, these accounts were left with a negative balance, which caused PostFinance to lock the accounts, resulting in some customers being unable to pay other bills.
While stressing that the problem was not of his company’s doing, Grand Casino Baden CEO Detlef Brose announced that the sites “will reimburse all game losses that are related to subsequent bookings that were made more than 30 days ago.” That leaves customers on the hook for any transfers to the gambling accounts made after May 10.
PostFinance is being less generous, offering only to work out a repayment plan with customers whose balances are now in the negative. Over 1,000 customers are said to have been impacted by the cockup.
Switzerland has so far issued seven online casino licenses, although not all eligible sites have launched. The two Stadtcasino Baden sites generated combined revenue of CHF7.6m (US$8m) by the end of 2019 and helped partially offset the loss of land-based revenue after the government ordered all casinos to shut in mid-March due to COVID-19. The casinos were allowed to reopen earlier this month.
