PlayNow.com, the only regulated online gambling site in British Columbia, is increasing its weekly transfer-in limit to expand its appeal and move high limit players away from unregulated, grey market gambling sites and over to PlayNow.com, providing player health, anti-money laundering and privacy safeguards.
Players now have the option to set their own weekly transfer-in limit up to $100,000. Previously, players could transfer in up to $9,999 per week – a level that was in place for more than a decade.
The changes are designed to appeal to the small number of British Columbians who already play at these limits on grey market sites. It is estimated there are more than 2,000 unregulated offshore sites that are operating in B.C., and approximately 73% of British Columbians who gamble online do so using unregulated, grey-market sites with little to no player health or anti-money laundering safeguards. These sites also do not pay taxes, support jobs in B.C., nor deliver profits to the Province.
Most PlayNow.com players play far below the new limits and will not be affected by the limit increases. In fact, more than half of PlayNow.com players set their weekly-deposit limit at $100 or less.
To support player choice and flexibility, PlayNow.com has also made changes to allow players to keep up to $250,000 in their account at one time. Previously, this limit was $9,999.
By increasing deposit and account limits, PlayNow.com is offering high limit players a regulated, secure online-gambling platform with safeguards that support player health while keeping gambling revenue in British Columbia, where it is used to support core services British Columbians depend on, like health care and education.
In line with BCLC’s commitment to player health, PlayNow.com provides significant safeguards to encourage healthy play. These include age-verification controls, a session log that provides players with clear visibility into their play activity, a short-term lockout function for players who want to set up a break from their gambling, and a voluntary-self exclusion program for those who wish to exclude themselves from gambling for six months, one, two or three years.
PlayNow.com is a cashless, account-based system that requires players to make deposits using their Canadian bank accounts or credit cards, where appropriate financial oversight and anti-money laundering controls exist. Account-based play also allows BCLC and players to carefully monitor all transactions.
