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Betway Bingo Verdict
Betway Bingo is not a great bingo site, but it is a great gambling site. In other words, you get great support, great site design, great software and access to a lot of different games, but the bingo offering itself is pretty standard. In some areas, the bingo feels tacked on, or at least in need of more attention. This is a good destination for bingo with a professional feel, but lacks the personal touch.
Percentage score
Design & Usability
The Betway Bingo site is, as you’d expect, of very high quality. You’re greeted by a huge splash graphic of a bingo ball and details of the welcome bonus. Finding the other sections of the site involves scrolling down, as most of the top bar options pertain to other arms of the site like sports betting. The art style here is very smart, but a little impersonal.
Once you’re logged in, you see quite a different site. Your account info is top right as normal and you can easily reach the contact options. Bingo and slots are easily found on large tabs. The design is simple yet effective and feels a bit different, which is good. This side of the bingo page is very modern and a little warmer than the wider Betway site.
Software & Gameplay
Betway have powerful software at their disposal, which loads pretty quickly and looks the part. Everything is bright, bold and clean. You can easily see the bingo readout, account options, and of course chat. The chat window is a good size and you have fun features like chat sounds and a choice of zany avatars. There is no lobby link.
The games look good and are fun to play. Chat however is pretty quiet, though it improves in the evening. There isn’t a great community vibe, but hosts do their bit and give out some extras like bonus points.
Safety & Security
Betway naturally has top notch security and credentials. They are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority, plus they have the seal of approval from eCOGRA and IBAS, both important independent boards for fairness.
They have a tick from the Responsible Gaming Trust, which is backed up by a responsible gaming page full of guidelines, advice and helpful organisations. They also have a page dedicated to describing their privacy and security precautions.
Payments & Withdrawals
Betway accept a lot of payment methods, which is great to see. You’ll find the full gamut here including MasterCard, Visa, Maestro and direct bank transfer. E-Wallet users get ecoPayz, Neteller, Paypal, PaySafeCard, Skrill and EntroPay! This covers all the major services and it’s more than enough for the average UK player.
Depositing is pretty straightforward, though the little cashier window could be modernised a bit. Withdrawal times are pretty much average, made better by their below-average wagering requirements.
Customer Support
Betway offer the big three of customer support: phone, live chat and email. Phone lines and live chat are available 24/7. The support teams are very highly trained, as you’d expect from a big name. Response times are good and overall support is of high quality. There are links to live chat on the home page, contact page and on a sidebar menu.
FAQs are conspicuous by their absence, though the larger Betway site has a help section. The site could benefit from a bit more of a personal touch, but at least you’re guaranteed quick, knowledgeable help.
Bonuses & Promotions
Finding promotional information is surprisingly hard on Betway Bingo. The welcome bonus is pretty good here, offering a 300% deposit match up to £150. You need to wager through the bonus credit three times before you can withdraw, which is less than the average.
Unfortunately, the offers stop there. Betway have their Plus program which offers loyalty bonuses and special promotions, but this applies to the site as a whole and bingo gets a very small slice (at the time of writing, there was only a slot-based offer to multiply loyalty points). There are no day to day promotions listed at all, a real shame.
Device Compatibility
Betway Bingo has an iTunes app, which looks good but won’t win any design awards. Ratings are low and it doesn’t seem an improvement over just connecting via browser. An icon on the site suggests there’s an Android Market app too, but of course Android Market is now defunct and there’s no Google Play app. There’s no dedicated mobile page to explain this, sadly.
The mobile site can be reached by googling Betway Bingo on your device’s browser. Don’t go straight to the main Betway site as they don’t directly link through. The mobile software is a little clunky but works, with a clear bingo and chat display.
Variety & Originality
Unfortunately, Betway Bingo won’t blow you away with variety. They have four 90 ball rooms and one 75 ball room. There’s a newbie room, which is always a nice touch and you’ll find a patient host in there to answer questions. The other 90 balls have a linked progressive jackpot and one of them is a Speed Bingo room. The main room is the Friendship room, with £200,000 in monthly guarantees. Still, this site lacks in originality and needs more selection.
The slot offering is better, but not really as broad as you’d expect from such a big company. They have some well-known names like Lost Vegas. The quality of the slots is excellent.
Loyalty & Rewards
Betway Bingo suffers in this area due to a lack of a bingo-specific VIP programme. However, they do have the site-wide Plus system which applies to all betting. This is a six-tier reward system with clear thresholds for each tier, based on tier tokens which you earn for playing. You need to keep earning tokens in order to remain in your tier, however, which is less incentivising and more cajoling.
Higher tiers gain access to VIP support, gifts, VIP trips and customised offers, so this is a good site if you’re a high roller who wants the full VIP treatment, but it’s not too encouraging to everyday players.