Compliance Review: How FCA-Registered SALTEDGE Open-Banking Rails Enable EU Deposits Into an Offshore Casino

Overview

A recent PlatinCasino payment flow review indicates that the cashier option labeled “Sofort” does not operate as Klarna’s traditional Sofort service. Instead, it functions as an account-to-account (A2A) open-banking deposit rail, routed through secure.bankgate.io, a gateway branded to SALTEDGE (Salt Edge Limited).

During the tested flow, users are redirected into Revolut’s Open Banking authorization interface, where they approve a third party. This creates a multi-step domain redirection sequence that appears to allow a Curaçao-licensed offshore casino to receive player deposits via regulated EU/UK open-banking infrastructure, despite the casino itself lacking EU or UK gambling authorization.

Key Observations

• Salt Edge Limited (UK) publicly presents itself as an FCA-authorised open-banking provider, marketing Payment Initiation Services for multiple industries, including iGaming.
• UK Companies House lists Tamara Royz (Canada) as the Person with Significant Control (PSC), holding more than 75% of shares and voting rights.
• Filed accounts show negative equity of approximately £41.6k, indicating a relatively thin capital base for a firm linked to high-risk payment verticals.
• In the PlatinCasino “Sofort” flow, secure.bankgate.io appears to manage bank selection and handoff into bank authorization, forming an A2A deposit pathway that reduces reliance on traditional card acquiring and front-loaded casino KYC.
• The branding and user experience suggest a white-label open-banking interface. Whether SALTEDGE acts as the regulated payment initiator of record, or provides infrastructure behind another regulated PISP, remains unclear.

Observed PlatinCasino Deposit Flow

Within PlatinCasino’s cashier, “Sofort” is presented as a familiar consumer payment method. In practice, the tested process follows an open-banking journey:

1. PlatinCasino → secure.bankgate.io
   A payment pop-up opens, prompting the user to select a bank (e.g., Revolut).
2. Bank authorization redirect
   The user is forwarded to the bank’s Open Banking environment (e.g., oba.revolut.com) to authenticate and approve a third party such as PERSPECTEEV SAS.
3. Return to merchant flow
   After consent is granted, the user is redirected back to the payment journey, enabling funds to reach the offshore casino via a regulated banking rail.

Compliance Significance

This structure suggests that a Curaçao-licensed gambling operator, typically outside EU supervisory scope, may accept EU/UK player deposits through regulated open-banking channels, shifting compliance expectations away from the casino layer and onto payment intermediaries.

SALTEDGE: Profile and Risk Context

Regulatory Positioning vs Practical Use

SALTEDGE publicly states that Salt Edge Limited is authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and offers both Account Information and Payment Initiation services across the EU and UK.

Notably, SALTEDGE explicitly promotes open-banking payments for iGaming, describing deposits, top-ups, and withdrawals as supported use cases. While this does not itself indicate misconduct, it increases the likelihood that bankgate.io represents a deliberate integration into a high-risk sector, rather than an incidental technical appearance.

Ownership and Financial Indicators

According to Companies House, Tamara Royz controls more than 75% of SALTEDGE. Public profiles and corporate references associate the company operationally with Canada, including listings that reference Ottawa.
Crunchbase identifies Dmitrii Barbasura, Garri Galanter, and Tamara Royz as founders.

The company’s negative equity (~£41,553) highlights a limited capital buffer relative to the compliance, complaint handling, and risk exposure typically associated with high-risk merchant payment flows.

The Role of “bankgate.io”

Screenshots from the tested flow show secure.bankgate.io operating as the gateway interface. Additionally, probing the domain produces a SALTEDGE-branded 404 page, supporting an operational link between bankgate.io and SALTEDGE branding.

For compliance accuracy, the situation can be framed as follows:

• Confirmed: PlatinCasino deposits route through secure.bankgate.io and redirect users into bank Open Banking authorization (e.g., Revolut).
• Corroborated: SALTEDGE branding appears on bankgate.io error pages, and SALTEDGE publicly markets payment initiation solutions for iGaming.
• Unresolved: Whether Salt Edge Limited is the regulated TPP (PISP/AISP) of record in this exact flow, or whether it provides infrastructure for another regulated entity.

Compliance Assessment

If regulated EU/UK open-banking rails are facilitating deposits into an offshore casino accessible without robust onboarding checks, this represents a material chokepoint exposure for banks and regulators.

Key risk dimensions include:

• High-risk merchant onboarding and monitoring
• Potentially misleading UX, where “Sofort” branding suggests a familiar consumer product while actually initiating an open-banking consent flow
• AML/CTF and source-of-funds controls dispersed across multiple intermediaries rather than enforced at the casino level
• Licensing perimeter questions, depending on which entity is legally responsible for initiating payments

Scam-Or Project will continue examining merchant-of-record structures, fund destination entities, and the compliance controls applied to offshore gambling merchants within the bankgate.io stack.

Summary Table

Deposit Rail Mini-Flow

Call for Information

Scam-Or Project Whistleblower

Have you worked with SALTEDGE, Salt Edge, or bankgate.io in payments, compliance, onboarding, or partner management?
Have you deposited via “Sofort” on PlatinCasino or similar platforms and can provide receipts, bank references, merchant descriptors, or confirmation emails?

Submissions can be made via the Scam-Or Project whistleblower section. Anonymous evidence and documentation are accepted.