Over the past 2 decades the Isle of Man has grown into one of the more desirable locations for highly regulated industry firms.
Payment Magnates was fortunate to attend the Global Lottery Messenger Forum held by the Middle East office of the Isle of Man based payment processor Counting House to get a better understanding of the lottery messenger industry on the Isle of Man, its regulatory status, and the facilities at the deposable of lottery messenger firms.
Participants of the event included representatives from Counting House, NEDBANK, Continent8 Technologies, WGE Consultants, SMP partners, DigiDis, ILS Fiduciaries, AIB Merchant Services, and representatives from the Isle of Man’s regulatory sectors
Similarly to Binary Options, the Isle of Man’s regulatory licensing for Lottery Messenger firms is that of online gaming. Also similarly to Binary Options, Israel was chosen as strategic location as many Lottery Messenger firms and platform providers are from there.
Peter Greenhill, CEO of e-Gaming Development on the Isle of Man presented the Online Gambling Regulations Act (OGRA) licenses. There are 3 licenses available altogether: a full license (£35,000 per year), a sub-license (£5,000/y), and a network license (£50,000/y).
As Lottery Messenger is a relatively new concept, international regulations are currently not set in place. Firms which offer lottery messenger services work by 2 main business models, the standard messenger model and the insurance model.
- Standard Lottery Messenger: A player purchases a ticket online to the lottery of their choice. The firm purchases a ticket in the player’s name, scans it, and sends the player a copy. If won, the player receives the payout through the messenger firm.
-Insurance model: The insurance model usually operates under a gaming license, such as the one provided by the Isle of Man's Gambling Supervision Commission, and works with the firm insuring itself against jackpot wins instead of buying actual lottery tickets. If won, the insurance policy is activated to payout the winning player.
The conference ended with an audience discussion in front of an industry panel which included Eran Price, CEO of TheLotter, Dr Leif Goeritz, Director of Intl Business Development at LottoLand, and James Morel, CEO of LottoGopher. All three firms represented use either of the models, and discussed mainly the future of Lottery Messenger and what they feel are the current obstacles the industry faces.
Throughout the conference and emphasized by the panel was the outcry for Regulation in the industry. As this industry continues to grow and show great promise and revenue, local regulations and the lack of an international regulatory infrastructure are the current primary obstacles.
Following in the steps of Online Gaming, Forex , and Binary Options, Lottery Messenger is sure to find its way to become a more highly regulated as well as highly lucrative industry. For now, Lottery Messenger has a regulatory home on the Isle of Man, its E-gaming license, its robust and dependable infrastructure, and payment and banking firms.
