Experts from Totalizator Sportowy, the Polish Bank Association and the National Clearing House have called for a new approach to tackling illegal online gambling. They say the next phase of enforcement should focus on financial data analysis, artificial intelligence and closer cross-sector cooperation.
Estimates suggest that 20–30% of the Polish online casino segment remains unregulated. A debate was held on cooperation between Totalizator Sportowy, the Polish Bank Association and other financial institutions.
Participants noted that illegal gambling operators are no longer solely a problem for the gaming industry. They are increasingly part of the ecosystem of cybercrime, money laundering and financial fraud.
Mariusz Kaczmarek, Managing Director of the Technology Division at Totalizator Sportowy, said that actions taken by the state, tax administration, banking sector and Totalizator Sportowy have delivered tangible results in reducing the illegal market.
However, he added that further progress will require a shift away from blocking internet domains towards controlling financial flows.
Paweł Szulik from the Polish Bank Association noted that changing domains is practically cost-free for criminals.
Szulik said: “Today the register is based solely on internet domains which can be changed very quickly and easily from a technological point of view.”
He argued that the future lies in entity-based registers covering owners, beneficial owners and related business structures.
One of the key themes of the debate was the application of anti-money laundering experience to the fight against illegal gambling. Szulik argued that banks already have advanced risk analysis tools that could identify illegal transactions more effectively if they had access to more precise data.
Artificial intelligence was another central topic. Wojciech Pantkowski, Vice President of the National Clearing House, highlighted that the rise of instant payments has significantly reduced the time available for risk analysis.
He said: “For a transaction to be secure, the system needs time to verify the sender, recipient and beneficial owner. In the real world of instant transfers, we have a maximum of 10 seconds to do this.”
He added that the only viable solution is full automation and the use of machine learning.
The National Clearing House already uses similar technologies to monitor transactions and combat financial fraud. These same tools could now be applied to detecting illegal gambling-related financial flows.
In February, Totalizator Sportowy and the Polish police signed a cooperation agreement to combat illegal gambling
