New program holds igaming affiliates to the same high standards expected of online casino and poker operators
September 04, 2008 (London, UK) – Fortune Affiliates is the first igaming affiliate program to receive the new eCOGRA “Affiliate Trust Seal”. eCOGRA, the independent, non-profit standards authority of the online gaming industry, oversees fair gaming, player protection and responsible operator conduct. Just as the organization’s Safe and Fair Seal has identified the most reputable online casinos and poker rooms, the new eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal now recognizes affiliate operators that observe the same standards of fairness and excellence. Fortune Affiliates was awarded the Seal after a thorough audit and on-site inspection.
“We are extremely honoured to receive the very first Affiliate Trust Seal,” said a spokesman for Fortune Affiliates. “The process was a tough one, but as our Affiliates have always known, we have always held ourselves to very high standards.”
“We’re very happy for Fortune Affiliates, and not the least bit surprised to see them achieve this honor,” commented CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com Founder and President Louis Fabiano. “ One of CAP’s premier certified partners, Fortune Affiliates is one of the largest, oldest, and most respected groups in the Microgaming family, and fully deserving of being the first affiliate program awarded with the prestigious eCOGRA seal.”
Like eCOGRA’s accreditation process for gambling site operators, the new service introduces detailed best business practice standards for affiliate program companies, backed by a strict inspection and monitoring system and the display of the new eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal.
To display the new Seal, affiliate programs must demonstrate that their program establishes, enforces and monitors best practice standards. Specifically, they must show that they calculate affiliate revenue accurately and make payments promptly, and that they have controls in place to accurately link players to affiliates.
Fortune Affiliates, which administers thousands of affiliate marketers of the Fortune Lounge group of casinos, poker and bingo rooms, was chosen to participate in a pilot project with eCOGRA during its year of study and standards development. The new standards, which underwent an extensive on-site audit and inspection during the Fortune Affiliate pilot project, are a set of generally accepted principles (eGAPs) for online casino and poker room affiliates.
Although there are others monitoring affiliate programs, eCOGRA provides the most public, structured and formal on-site approach and ensures adherence to consistent standards through regular monitoring and full annual reviews carried out by highly qualified inspection and auditing compliance teams.
“The eCOGRA Affiliate Trust initiative is more about actually going and visiting the management and operations of affiliate programs, gaining direct access to check relevant player and affiliate data to ensure that affiliate members are being treated fairly,” said eCOGRA CEO Andrew Beveridge.
Details of the Fortune Affiliates program and information on the online casinos, poker and bingo rooms included in the program are available at www.FortuneAffiliates.com. The eCOGRA Affiliate Trust program is described in detail at www.ecogra.org/affiliates.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Larry Colcy, Lyceum Media
larry@lyceummedia.com, +1 (604) 685-6240
About Fortune Affiliates
Fortune Affiliates (www.FortuneAffiliates.com) is an online gaming affiliate program offering above-average commissions for player recruitment, cutting-edge promotions, detailed reports and tracking, and world-class support. Established 7 years ago, Fortune Affiliates has earned a reputation for building strong and trustworthy partnerships. They were the first to receive the eCOGRA Affiliate Trust Seal and are a gold member of the Association of Players, Casinos and Webmasters.
About Fortune Lounge
Fortune Lounge is one of the longest running casino groups on the web today. Fortune Lounge includes well-established and recognized brands like Platinum Play, Royal Vegas and Vegas Palms as well as PokerTime.com, Platinum Play Bingo and Royal Vegas Mobile. Multiple currencies are supported including USD, CAD, GBP and EUR and languages available include English, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Greek, Russian, Spanish and German.
About eCOGRA
eCOGRA (www.ecogra.org) is a non-profit London-based organisation that sets online casino and poker standards and provides an international framework for best operational and player protection practice requirements, with particular emphasis on fair and responsible gambling. These are enforced through inspections and reviews, and continuous monitoring. Accreditation is open to all software companies and their operators. Accredited companies are entitled to bear the “Safe and Fair” seal, indicating to players everywhere that all operational systems and games are fair and continuously monitored to consistently high standards. After a year of research and development, the organization has just launched the Affiliate Trust Seal program that recognizes casino and poker affiliates that adhere to the same high standards.