KSA issues new guidance: players must always be able to close gambling accounts

The Dutch regulator (Kansspelautoriteit) published guidance clarifying that licensed operators must make it straightforward for customers to close accounts, cannot force preconditions such as mandatory customer‑service contact, must not use closure requests to retain players, and must return remaining balances without undue delay or extra conditions. Media buyers, affiliates and CRM teams serving the Netherlands need to review funnels, retention scripts and payment operations to avoid regulatory breaches.

Verified facts

• Source: Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) published guidance on account closure on 2026-09-23.
• Ksa found that not all licensed gambling companies were complying with rules on account termination.
• Ksa's key principle: people who gamble must be able to close their account as easily as possible when they ask to.
• Operators may not create obstacles such as requiring that a customer first contact customer service before an account can be closed.
• When a customer asks via customer service or chat to close their account, the operator may not use that interaction to attempt to persuade the customer to remain.
• Guidance clarifies handling of remaining balances: operators must pay out leftover funds without unnecessary delay and may not attach conditions to those payouts.
• Ksa states practices previously observed are ‘absolutely undesirable’ and the guidance should remove ambiguity about how account‑closure processes must be arranged.

GEOs and markets

Netherlands (Dutch licensed gambling market)

Brands and organisations

Generic reference to licensed gambling companies (gokbedrijven). No individual operators named.

Impact on media buyers

GameHub editorial analysis: Operators, affiliates, media buyers and CRM teams active in the Netherlands must ensure on‑site flows, customer‑service scripts, sign‑up/closure paths and payment-processing procedures allow immediate closure requests, prohibit retention pressure during closure interactions, and enable prompt unconditional payout of remaining balances. Affiliates should audit promo landing pages and conversion funnels for misleading or obstructive language and confirm operators’ self-exclusion and closure UX. Non‑compliant practices risk enforcement by Ksa and reputational harm within the Dutch market. Compliance teams should update policies, partner SLAs and QA checks to reflect the guidance immediately; tech teams may need to automate closure and payout workflows to meet the 'without unnecessary delay' standard. Media buyers should pause campaigns with partners that cannot demonstrate compliant closure/payout processes.

GameHub comment

GameHub editorial analysis: This Ksa guidance tightens behavioural and operational expectations around account closure and cash‑out in the Netherlands. For affiliates and media buyers, the practical risks are twofold: legal/regulatory exposure for promoting or routing players to operators that obstruct closure, and increased consumer complaints that damage conversion quality. Review creative claims about account control, ensure affiliate dashboards surface closure/payout KPIs, and require written confirmation from operator partners that closure flows and customer‑service scripts will not attempt retention. Technical teams should validate that payout mechanics (including AML checks) are streamlined for closure events to avoid 'unnecessary delay' being interpreted as non‑compliance. Treat this as a compliance and UX priority, not only a customer‑service matter; regulators increasingly view friction at exit as a harm vector.

Editorial note: The “Verified facts” section reports the primary source. The impact and GameHub comment sections are editorial analysis, not claims made by the organiser.