The gambling mediator in France has highlighted temporary accounts, allowing players access to online gaming operators while their identity documents are processed, as a key issue of concern in his 2024 report.
Citing mediator Jérôme Gallot’s overview of activities last year, the French gambling regulator, L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), urged operators to verify “as quickly as possible” players’ supporting documents once they are submitted.
The ANJ noted that players who have submitted their documents can access operator’s platforms via a temporary account.
“In some cases, minors who have provided a false date of birth, or those banned from gambling who have slightly changed their first or last name, can play,” the regulator said.
Players will be asked for supporting documents if they wish to withdraw funds. This, the ANJ said, allows those using temporary accounts to “lose substantial sums, but not to win any.”
“Operators must therefore be particularly vigilant regarding temporary accounts and must verify the supporting documents submitted as quickly as possible. It would also be advisable, when they have any doubts, particularly regarding a player who may be banned from gambling, to block the account while waiting for the supporting documents.”
The French gambling mediator received 1,541 applications regarding operator and player disputes in 2024, a number “almost equivalent” to 2023.
Sports betting accounted for the “vast majority” of disputes, 88 per cent of which were admissible.
Disputes chiefly related to the outcome of or cancellation of bets or the management of their account regarding actions such as blocking, closure and difficulty withdrawing funds.
Live betting was among the concerns the ANJ said Gallot had observed.
“In live betting, where events are very dynamic and occur in real time, the operator must ensure that bet management is smooth and consistent with the actions taking place,” the ANJ said.
“To prevent bets being placed after an event has occurred, operators must implement an automated mechanism that instantly blocks bets as soon as the event, such as a goal being scored, occurs, even if the official announcement takes a few seconds.
“The Ombudsman suggests adding an explicit statement when placing live bets to clearly inform players of the time between the occurrence of an event and the removal of a proposed bet from the site. Players should be aware that bets placed after the event has occurred cannot be validated.”
Refunding the balance of players’ accounts in the event of account closure due to suspicion of fraud has “generally been well-addressed by operators, who have adjusted their practices,” the regulator said.
“Indeed, in the majority of cases, operators refund players' deposits. However, in specific situations, such as the risk of proven fraud, operators may retain deposits and place them in reserve.”
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