Major online gambling group’s affiliate program recognised for best practice standards of fairness and efficiency

London, 20 January 2010 – PartyPartners.com, the affiliate program for several leading online gambling brands in the PartyGaming plc group, has successfully passed the on-site inspection and monitoring requirements of player protection and standards body eCOGRA.

The program is now entitled to display the eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal, which certifies that it observes best practice operational standards of fairness and efficiency in dealing with affiliate marketers, and is independently reviewed on a regular basis.

eCOGRA chief executive Andrew Beveridge said that the Affiliate Trust seal is awarded contingent on the applicant company meeting clearly defined international standards and undergoing a comprehensive on-site inspection and audit of its business systems by a professionally qualified eCOGRA compliance team.

“Among the criteria for accreditation, applicant programs must show that affiliate revenue is calculated fairly and accurately, that payments are prompt, and that there are appropriate controls in place to accurately link players to affiliates,” he said. “Achieving accreditation such as PartyPartners has done requires professional commitment and impeccable administrative and business systems.”

eCOGRA compliance team leader Sean Roberts, a fully qualified Chartered Accountant who managed the audit at PartyPartners, said that it had been a significant project in his experience.

“This is a major and respected tier one international gambling group with top online casino, poker, bingo and sportsbetting brands, all using the PartyPartners affiliate program to manage relationships with thousands of affiliates around the world,” he said.

“Taken over a total of 141 “Safe and Fair” seal websites, that amounts to an average of 0.37 issues per site per month, a minute increase over the 2008 number of 0.36. That remains an industry-leading disputes statistic by any standards,” the Fair Gaming Advocate added.

“We were impressed by the competency of both staff and systems, which we thoroughly tested at full capacity to determine efficiency and consistency levels. In my opinion it is among the most professionally managed businesses I have encountered in hundreds of eCOGRA reviews and audits at major Internet companies.”

Jim Ryan, chief executive officer at PartyGaming said he was pleased but not surprised that PartyPartners had done so well in the accreditation process.

“We have a really good management team in place there, which recognises the importance of our affiliates and their contribution to our success,” he said. “The achievement of this industry-respected accreditation is an affirmation of our full commitment to operational efficiency and integrity in this critical area of our business.

“The eCOGRA certification is achieved through practical and professional testing and inspection, and I am pleased that we have achieved the high standards required,” he added. “It reinforces our market positioning as a serious affiliate program giving affiliates significant revenue opportunities through a trusted system with outstanding brands.

“It’s important to have this externally audited.”