Player Fund Protection Ratings and What They Mean

Where a regulator requires it, operators must disclose how customer funds are held and what would happen in an insolvency.

Ratings typically run in three broad bands. Basic segregation keeps customer funds in separate accounts but they are not protected from creditors in an insolvency. Medium adds arrangements such as an insurance policy or a quistclose-style trust intended to prioritise customers. High places funds in an independently controlled trust or equivalent, designed so customers are paid ahead of general creditors.

The disclosure is usually in the terms under a heading about protection of customer funds.

For routine balances the distinction rarely bites. For a large balance left on deposit it is the single most relevant term in the document, and the sensible response is to withdraw rather than to store money at a casino.