Allwyn UK has been awarded the European Lotteries (EL) Responsible Gaming Certification, as well as being classed as Level Four of the World Lottery Association’s (WLA) Responsible Gaming Framework.
Operator of the UK National Lottery, Allwyn has now achieved the highest possible level at the WLA. That, along with the EL certificate, highlights the group’s player protection initiatives, including a programme centred on preventing underage and excessive play.
Allwyn UK CEO, Andria Vidler, commented: “Just over a year on from taking over as The National Lottery operator, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve achieved these important EL and WLA Responsible Gaming Certifications.
“National Lottery games are specially designed to be safe and secure, ensuring they don’t appeal to underage or vulnerable players. However, with over 30 million people routinely playing National Lottery games – raising over £30m a week for Good Causes in the process – it’s crucial that we continue to do everything we can to prevent underage and excessive play.
“So, it’s great to have this external recognition of what we’ve achieved so far, but we also know that our work in this area is never finished.”
Since taking over as National Lottery operator in February last year, Allwyn has:
- Made its 43,500 retail partners adhere to the ‘Challenge 25’ scheme.
- Increased support for retailers since last May’s launch of Operation Guardian, enabling them to sell National Lottery products more responsibly safely.
- Organised more than 8,200 mystery shopper visits in 2024 to check retailers were challenging players who appeared under the age of 18.
The results demonstrated that 92.3% of National Lottery retailers correctly asked for ID as proof of age on their first visit by a mystery shopper.
Vidler concluded: “We plan to continue working hard on our responsible play credentials and driving up our own high standards, keeping National Lottery players at the heart of everything we do.”
The beginning of its tenure as UK National Lottery operator was understandably the highlight of 2024 for Allwyn, confirming revenue growth of 12% for the year.
Following its unaudited financial report for the full 2024 trading year as well as Q4, the firm has recently confirmed all these figures in a new update.
Group-wide 2024 revenue was up 12% from €7.9bn to €8.8bn alongside adjusted EBITDA growth of 4% from €1.5bn to €1.54bn. This performance was replicated in Q4, with revenue 10% to €2.4bn (€2.2bn), GGR was up 10% to €2.3bn (€2.1bn), and adjusted EBITDA was up 12% to €437m (€388m).
In October, Allwyn became one of the first lotteries in the world to bring in a 10 Scratchcard per transaction limit. The company was also granted Level 2 membership in the National Council of Problem Gambling’s Gift Responsibly Campaign.
Finally, another responsible gaming effort included the introduction of a QR code for instant access to information on support on in-store media screens, as well as an enhanced retailer training to prevent underage and excessive play through a new digital National Lottery Retail Training Centre.