Betway App Review

Betway was established in 2006 and they often claim to be one of the world’s top online bookmakers. But that’s not been our experience.

This may have rang true 5 years ago, but today Betway have been criticized for a number of unethical practices – and in this Betway app review I’m going to talk a bit about these practices.

Our Rating: (1 / 5)

I’ll also give you a look at what Betway is all about – but be prepared, I don’t recommend you play at this bookmaker. There are much better sites to choose from, so in case you’re in a hurry, I want to show you some of those first.

Alternatives To Betway

Key Features

While Betway may not be operating as a rogue site – they certainly have some questionable practices. In fact, I was shocked to find just how many complaints the bookie has about them online. A quick “Google” search brings up hundreds – if not thousands – of punters raising their concerns.

One of the most common complaints is that Betway “limits” punter accounts after winning small amounts of money. This is common practice at all bookmakers – and if you consistently win you’re likely to find the amount of money you can wager on events is reduced drastically.

However, Betway seem to be incredibly heavy handed with their measures. They’re happy to accept money so long as a player’s bets are losing – but the minute they go on a hot run, the bookie puts these limits in place.

I also found some of Betway’s marketing campaigns to be slightly unethical. For example, they were accused, a couple of years ago, of sending out a mass promotional email to punters who had self-excluded from the site.

It’s things like this that really set a bad precedent for the site as a whole, and they’re just two of the reasons why I strongly recommend you find a different bookmaker to bet with.

Website / App Design & Ease Of Use

In the past, Betway’s website was pretty underwhelming. It was slow, hard to navigate and unresponsive. Thankfully the site underwent a complete overhaul a few years back, and it seems as though Betway now have a fairly intuitive, user-friendly website.

When I was putting this review together I spent time testing out loading speeds, placing bets and so on – it’s clear the website is now a lot more user-friendly than before.

However, upon downloading Betway’s mobile app I was disappointed to find that it doesn’t offer much more than their standard mobile-optimized website. Annoyingly, you also need to enter your login details frequently. There is, supposedly, an option to save your login details – but I routinely found this not to be working, requiring me to enter my full username and password each time I wanted to play.

Software

For its sportsbook, Betway’s software is mostly proprietary – I couldn’t find any information about them running on any white-label software. However, this changes when you step into their online casino – which is powered by Microgaming.

Choice of Betting Markets

When it comes to betting markets, Betway offers all the major markets you’d expect to find at a big-time bookmaker. They have four “core” markets, which includes football, cricket, horse racing and tennis. All of these “core” markets are supposed to be extensive – and while the site does a good job with its football and horse racing offering, their selection of greyhound racing events leaves room for a considerable amount of improvement.

Currently, Betway offers a minimal number of greyhound markets. This is strange, as most online bookmakers offer a huge number of greyhound events. This just isn’t the case at Betway, and it’s clear that they’ve chosen to offer the bare minimum when it comes to greyhound racing.

In terms of other markets, Betway do a fairly decent job, and they offer eSports, watersports, MMA markets – and even things like chess and floorball.

Banking – Deposit/Withdrawal Options

Betway offers a few different payment methods, including VISA, MasterCard, VISA Maestro, Neteller, SWIFT, PayPal and Entropay. They don’t charge any fees to make deposits (although they used to in the past) and all deposits are credited to player accounts instantly.

Unfortunately when it comes to withdrawals, Betway leaves a lot to be desired. First of all they’re pretty heavy-handed in their verification approach. Many bookmakers will process withdrawals for new players provided they’re under $/£1,000 – it’s only later down the line that verification checks come in.

At Betway, however, new players are often requested to undergo a lengthy verification process right off the bat – and this can lead to delays in the withdrawal being processed. It’s not a major issue – after all, in some jurisdictions the bookmaker is legally required to carry out these checks – but I think it’s fair to say you’ll be able to get paid out earlier at other bookies.

I was also shocked to find that Betway limits players to withdrawing a maximum of $/£4,000 per week. This may not be a problem for novice bettors looking to place the odd accumulator, but for serious punters – wagering hundreds of dollars – this could prove to be a serious problem.

Safety and Security

Betway holds a few online gambling licenses – but just two of them matter in the grand scheme of things. One of their licenses is issued by the UK Gambling Commission while the other is issued by the Maltese Gaming Authority.

These regulatory authorities are supposed to make sure that operators are treating players fairly – though it’s clear, from my research, that Betway have slipped through the cracks in some respects. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the pressure mounting on Betway in the coming months and years, as regulators continue to enforce gambling legislation on operators.

In fact, in March 2020 this is exactly what happened. Betway were fined £11.6 Million by the UKGC due to the following breaches of their licensing conditions:

The Gambling Commission found systemic historical failings in the way Betway identified and interacted with customers who were at risk of money laundering and problem gambling. These failings stemmed from inadequate anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies and processes and senior management oversight.

In my personal opinion, this is completely justified and maybe didn’t even go far enough. It just goes to show what a dodgy operator they are.

Customer Service/Support

I really want to find something positive in every betting app I review. Thankfully, Betway’s customer support is one of the only facets of their site I couldn’t really find any faults with. They offer three different ways for you to get in touch; live chat, email and phone.

Live chat is undoubtedly the easiest way for you to get in touch with the customer support team as it connects you with a trained operator in a matter of minutes. Live chat support is also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so there’s no waiting around to speak to someone.

Phone support is also quite responsive – and Betway provides a toll-free number for most countries, ensuring you don’t end up paying just to speak to their customer support team. If you prefer, you can send the site an email – although their response time can take up to 24 hours, so just bear this in mind.

While researching this Betway review, I did find reports from quite a lot of other punters about very poor attitudes from some support staff. This is not something I experienced myself, but I saw enough evidence from others to believe that maybe I just got lucky. If you’re still even considering betting with them, it’s something you need to keep in mind.

Currencies

Betway currently offers some 11 currency options, including INR, CAD, AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, SEK, NOK and more.

Allowed Countries

Betway are pretty good with allowing players from around the world. At the time of writing, the site is not available to players residing in Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France and its territories, German State (Bundesland) of Schleswig-Holstein, Greece, Greenland, Iran, Israel, Mexico, North Korea, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Netherlands or the United States and its territories.

Summary: Do Not Join

Hopefully this Betway review has given you enough insight to decide not to join them. I really want to make sure you don’t make that mistake, because I fear you’ll regret it later.

Instead, why not check out some of our other betting app reviews and join a more reputable mobile bookie instead.

Last Updated on February 22, 2021