CO Gaming Commission Fines WorldPay $130k For Operating with Expired License

• Last Thursday, Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission Fined WorldPay $130k
• WorldPay Reportedly Handled 174,000 Transactions After its CO License Expired
• Commission Chair Calls it “a matter we take seriously,” WorldPay Blames Admin Error

Last Thursday, Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission Fined WorldPay $130k

Anyone who’s ever gotten pulled over with an expired driver’s license might have some empathy for WorldPay, the payment processing company and technology provider that handles sports betting transactions in Colorado whose bosses just let their license to operate expire.

WorldPay is based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, but it handles the sports betting action in the Centennial State, meaning the wagers placed and the wins awarded, and it needs a license to do that, one that must be renewed every two years for the operator to continue doing business.

Back in April, WorldPay’s operating license expired, and for inexplicable reasons they failed to renew it and instead continued to illegally operate, a move that the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission (CLGCC) frowned upon as they issued a $130k fine on the company.

That equates to about $10k a day that WorldPay was operating without a license, a hefty sum that could have increased substantially had they fought the fine with a ‘show cause’ hearing and lost, the risk of that being a suspension or having their license denied plus a $25k per day fine.

The punishment makes sense given WorldPay profited during that time.

WorldPay Reportedly Handled 174,000 Transactions After its CO License Expired

From the time that WorldPay’s license expired in April through the almost two weeks they continued to operate, the company handled a reported 174,000 transactions in that state for a total handle of $9.8 million, of which they kept about $14.7k in fees for their part in it.

WorldPay has agreed to the $130k fine and will pay half of it within ten days of the CLGCC approving the agreement, with the balance being held in a limbo state of abeyance where it would only be due if the company violates any laws or regulations in the next two years.

The company had to suspend its operations in Colorado for a period, telling its clients that this was due to “an administrative licensing error” that included “no accusation of wrongdoing pending against WorldPay,” a fancy way of sidestepping total accountability for their offense.

That mild characterization of the situation was not something the CLGCC was going to let slide.

Commission Chair Calls it “a matter we take seriously,” WorldPay Blames Admin Error

During a recent meeting held to settle this matter, CLGCC Chair Richard Nathan told WorldPay Gaming Solutions President Joseph Watkins that he was not happy with the way this issue was presented to the public by WorldPay, saying:

“I just wanted to make clear to you that this is not a mere administrative matter. It’s a matter we take seriously. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been in the discussions you were in with the (Colorado) attorney general’s office and the staff of the division that gave rise to this stipulation and the requirements that you will abide by going forward for the 731 days that you’ve agreed to do so.”

To his credit, in the end Pres. Watkins did take full responsibility for his company’s slipup and vowed to “keep contact details up to date at all times,” which amounts to a promise to avoid further fines and harsh rebukes from the CLGCC.