Racingpost article re increased premium charge

[pt9091]

Betfair to increase charges on big hitters

BETFAIR are to increase the charges on their most successful users to as much as 60 per cent of gross win next month in a move the betting exchange claim will protect smaller players using the site.

FromJuly 18, Betfair will crank up the controversial premium charges faced by big hitters whose lifetime net profits exceed £250,000, who bet in over 1,000 markets, and whose commission generated is less than 40 per cent of their lifetime gross profit.

Betfair introduced the premium charge in September 2008 at 20 per cent, claiming it would cover costs incurred in providing the most successful punters with the platform to profit - the majority of which comes through trading andin-running punting.

At the present level, Betfair, who believe only around 500 of their 3.8 million registered users will be affected by the new charges, claim to break even on the highly profitable users, but state that profits from elsewhere are ploughed into improving the site to meet levels of trading from big punters and advertising to attract new customers to maintain liquidity in the markets.

A spokesman said: “Betfair believes that the implementation of the adjusted charge will provide the business with fair compensation for the service it provides to those impacted customers, who currently pay a rate of commissions and charges that does not reflect the benefit they gain fromthe Betfair ecosystem.

“We have evolved our pricing model to ensure we have a fair pricing structure for all of our customers, over 99.9 per cent of whom are not affected by this adjustment.

“Since inception we have provided customers with a unique and innovative product that has consistently offered them, on average, the best value on the market. This is still very much the case and we’re committed to ensuring that it remains the case for years to come.”

Betfair shares closed on Tuesday at 771.5p, an increase on Monday's final price of 726.5p. Betfair’s preliminary results for the year ended April 30 will be published on Wednesday

[freddy]

Don't suppose they have the balls to actually have an opinion on it themselves so just print the facts

how about what they think about it

[superfrank]

Don't suppose they have the balls to actually have an opinion on it themselves so just print the facts

how about what they think about it

that's modern journalism I'm afraid. they just summarise press releases and print them as 'facts'.

financial journalism is the worst. press releases from vested interests get reported as fact. e.g. estate agents, or "property experts" as the BBC calls them.