Betfair
General information
Betfair is the world’s largest betting exchange, It does not operate like a traditional bookmaker. It allows customers to back or lay selections. From this Betfair is able to offer the best prices on the majority of selections and regularly beats other online bookmakers for value. The company is licensed in Gibraltar, with over 4 million customers and turning over a reported £50 million a week. Employing over 2000 staff Betfair is on course to be one of the biggest sports book out there. Betfair was founded in 2000 and has won many top awards in UK for innovation.
Financial matters
Without the constraints of traditional bookmakers and impervious to “losing streaks “ or “bad runs” Betfair continues to go from strength to strength. Indeed the only problem for Betfair is the reluctance of many countries to accept them into their betting fraternities. Betfair continue to advance worldwide and will be a real dominating force in bookmaking. Betfair floated on the stock exchange in 2010 and was valued at £1.4 Billion. Revenues for 2012 were £349 Million with an operating income of £91.2 million.
Payment methods
All the usual payment options for Betfair. Visa and Mastercard, Bank Transfer, Neteller, PayPal, Clickand Buy, paysafecard, Cheque, Western Union and Moneybookers (Skrill).
Website performance
Betfair is one of the quickest and most responsive out there. Everything is very straight forward and very easy to find. The only problem for people inexperienced with exchange betting is the back and lay mechanism. Betfair have an extensive training section with help guides and even short films on how to back and lay. All in all its one of the best betting websites on the market and even for the novice is perfect to navigate around. As it is not a traditional bookmaker it is not weary of offering lesser known soccer leagues or sports events. The range of the offer is unsurpassed but is reliant on other customers offering prices. This is something Betfair are trying to address by “seeding” markets. This is where Betfair themselves add liquidity to untouched markets and offer prices.
Customer service
Customer service is by mail or telephone, no live chat as yet which is disappointing. However the telephone customer service is probably the best out there. They are highly skilled staff and very helpful and informative. Customer service is available 24/7 in English and 3pm – 5am in Mandarin/Cantonese. If you send Betfair any email correspondence they promise to reply within 4 hours which again is very helpful given their customer base. If you have site problems you can contact their helpdesk and they have even placed bets over the phone for me while the problem was dealt with. All in all Betfair are one of the industry leaders in customer service.