Calling all Mecca Bingo players! If you’re a regular at Mecca Bingo and use their Play Points programme, then you might be disappointed to hear that Mecca are withdrawing the scheme as of tomorrow.
Mecca Bingo scrapping Play Points
The news was announced after bingo affiliates were notified via email that the scheme would be ending and to ensure that all mention of it was removed by the end of the month. The email said: “As of August 1st 2020, Mecca Play Points will be removed from our customer offering to both new and existing players. Please ensure that any mention of the Mecca Play Points scheme is removed from any published content or Mecca brand advertising before the start of August.” This will undoubtedly be really disappointing for regular Mecca players as the scheme works by converting points into prizes. Every time you play, you earn points. The more you play, the more points you earn and then can claim some brilliant prizes including i-Pads, Amazon Fire HD, Sony Headphones and wireless bluetooth speakers. But this will now be a thing of the past as the Play Points scheme ends tomorrow. 
Players who have already accrued existing Play Points will be contacted directly by Mecca regarding the change.
Compliance clampdown
It is unsure why the Play Points scheme is being removed as Mecca haven’t confirmed the reasons for coming to this decision, however, it is thought it could be due to the ongoing compliance guidelines issued by the UK Gambling Commission. The UKGC have been keen to clampdown on bingo and casino sites to ensure players are protected from gambling related harm, offers are transparent and any imagery is not appealing to children. Any forms of rewards or incentive schemes will need to have full audit trails with detailed decision making and ‘specified senior oversight and accountability’, making this a very probable cause for the Play Points scheme to be scrapped.