Introduction
There are two types of charges that you may be required to pay. The charges described in the ‘General Charges’ section apply in relation to your Betfair account and therefore are relevant to all customers. In addition, there are certain charges that only apply in particular circumstances to customers of the Betfair Exchange. Further details of all of the following charges can be found in the relevant sections below.
All charges are inclusive of VAT, if applicable.
General Charges
Charges relating to the Deposit and Withdrawal of funds to or from Betfair are set out in the deposit and withdrawal pages within the ‘My Account’ section on the website. However, additional charges may apply in some cases. These charges are set out in Section 5 .
Betfair will no charge any Inactive Account Fee,. According to Betfair Terms and Conditions, if you don't use your game account for a period of one year and nor can we transfer the funds from your game account into your payment account within one year, we shall transfer the money from the respective account to the Romanian state budget, after notifying you in advance.
Charges applicable only to the Betfair Exchange
For the vast majority of Betfair Exchange customers, the only charges paid to Betfair will be Commission on net winnings in an Exchange market, as set out in more detail in Section 1 below.
There are additional charges on the Exchange to deter extreme usage of the facilities provided by Betfair: customers who place more than 1000 bets in any hour on the Exchange may also be charged Transaction Charges depending on the number of bets placed and the amount of commission they have already paid, as set out in Section 4 below.
A small number of customers who, in the long-term, generate very little commission compared to the amount they win may incur Premium Charges. Any customer affected by this charge will be notified in advance. Details of the Premium Charge are set out in Section 6 below.
This section only applies to the Betfair Exchange.
Betfair charges a Commission on your net winnings on a market. If you have a net loss on a market you do not pay commission.
Commission is calculated by multiplying your net winnings by the Market Base Rate. From this we will apply a discount. The more you bet with us the greater the discount you will receive.
In order to see the Market Base Rate applicable to you, please refer to emails and web messages from Betfair setting out current charges, or click here to see the Market Base Rate section on our Help and Learning pages.
Please note that the “Rules” tab which is found on each market on the “Classic” or “Old” version of Betfair is incorrectly displaying the Market Base Rate as 5%. Please ignore the information about the Market Base Rate on the “Classic” or “Old” version of Betfair.
The size of this discount, or your Discount Rate, is determined by the number of Betfair Points you have accrued on your account. Betfair Points are earned in proportion to your betting activity - the more you bet, the more points you accrue, the greater your Discount Rate. Please note that your discount rate will be capped at 20% unless you have completed Betfair's Know Your Customer check requirements.
You earn Betfair Points every time you bet on a market. You will earn 1 point for every 10 pence of commission paid (if you have net winnings) or implied commission (if you have a net loss). Implied commission is calculated in exactly the same way as commission but refers to losses rather than winnings. Betfair Points are awarded equally whether you win or lose.
Example:
You have net winnings in a market of £400.
The Market Base Rate is 5%.
Your current Discount Rate is 40%.
Therefore the commission you pay is £12 (£400 x 5% x (1-40%)).
You earn 120 Betfair Points.
Example (using implied commission):
You have net losses in a market of £100.
The Market Base Rate is 5%.
Your current Discount Rate is 30%.
Therefore the implied commission is £3.50(£100 x 5% x (1- 30%)).
You earn 35 Betfair Points.
For the purpose of calculating Betfair Points your commission or implied commission on a market is rebased to British Pounds at the time of settlement.
Your Discount Rate is calculated from your current Betfair Points every week. This occurs at midnight (GMT) every Sunday using one of the tables below:
Table A
Applies to all customers other than those specified below
|
Betfair Points |
||
|---|---|---|
|
From |
To |
Discount Rate |
|
0 |
999 |
0% |
|
1,000 |
2,499 |
2% |
|
2,500 |
3,999 |
4% |
|
4,000 |
5,499 |
6% |
|
5,500 |
6,999 |
8% |
|
7,000 |
8,999 |
10% |
|
9,000 |
10,999 |
12% |
|
11,000 |
12,999 |
14% |
|
13,000 |
14,999 |
16% |
|
15,000 |
16,999 |
18% |
|
17,000 |
18,999 |
20% |
|
19,000 |
20,999 |
22% |
|
21,000 |
22,999 |
24% |
|
23,000 |
25,999 |
26% |
|
26,000 |
28,999 |
28% |
|
29,000 |
31,999 |
30% |
|
32,000 |
35,999 |
32% |
|
36,000 |
39,999 |
34% |
|
40,000 |
43,999 |
36% |
|
44,000 |
48,999 |
38% |
|
49,000 |
54,999 |
40% |
|
55,000 |
60,999 |
42% |
|
61,000 |
66,999 |
44% |
|
67,000 |
72,999 |
46% |
|
73,000 |
79,999 |
48% |
|
80,000 |
87,999 |
50% |
|
88,000 |
95,999 |
52% |
|
96,000 |
107,999 |
54% |
|
108,000 |
125,999 |
56% |
|
126,000 |
149,999 |
58% |
|
150,000 |
- |
60% |
Table B
Applies to customers in Canada and Czech Republic
|
Betfair Points |
||
|---|---|---|
|
From |
To |
Discount Rate |
|
0 |
6,999 |
0% |
|
7,000 |
16,999 |
10% |
|
17,000 |
28,999 |
20% |
|
29,000 |
48,999 |
30% |
|
49,000 |
79,999 |
40% |
|
80,000 |
149,999 |
50% |
|
150,000 |
- |
60% |
Table C
Applies to customers in Netherlands
|
Betfair Points |
||
|---|---|---|
|
From |
To |
Discount Rate |
|
0 |
7,999 |
0% |
|
8,000 |
14,999 |
10% |
|
15,000 |
24,999 |
20% |
|
25,000 |
40,999 |
30% |
|
41,000 |
70,999 |
40% |
|
71,000 |
- |
50% |
Table D
Applies to customers in Austria, Switzerland, and Ukraine
|
Betfair Points |
||
|---|---|---|
|
From |
To |
Discount Rate |
|
0 |
999 |
0% |
|
1,000 |
3,999 |
1% |
|
4,000 |
6,999 |
2% |
|
7,000 |
10,999 |
3% |
|
11,000 |
14,999 |
4% |
|
15,000 |
18,999 |
5% |
|
19,000 |
20,999 |
6% |
|
21,000 |
22,999 |
8% |
|
23,000 |
25,999 |
10% |
|
26,000 |
28,999 |
12% |
|
29,000 |
31,999 |
14% |
|
32,000 |
35,999 |
16% |
|
36,000 |
39,999 |
20% |
|
40,000 |
43,999 |
22% |
|
44,000 |
48,999 |
24% |
|
49,000 |
54,999 |
26% |
|
55,000 |
60,999 |
30% |
|
61,000 |
66,999 |
32% |
|
67,000 |
72,999 |
34% |
|
73,000 |
79,999 |
36% |
|
80,000 |
87,999 |
40% |
|
88,000 |
95,999 |
42% |
|
96,000 |
107,999 |
44% |
|
108,000 |
125,999 |
46% |
|
126,000 |
- |
50% |
Once your Discount Rate has been calculated, your Betfair Points balance is reduced by 15%. This is known as the Weekly Decay. If you continue to bet at the same level each week, your Discount Rate will remain unchanged. If your Betfair Points at any time imply a higher Discount Rate, you will move to that rate immediately.
Discount Rates are applied at the time of market settlement rather than bet placement. These might be different for you in long term markets.
The Betfair Points Statement within your My Account section provides a full history of your Betfair Points, showing changes as a result of your betting activity, weekly decay and any relevant promotions. This statement also shows your current Discount Rate.
You are able to prevent the weekly decay of your Betfair Points by using a Betfair Holiday. You may continue to bet during your Betfair Holiday but will not earn Betfair Points for any markets settled during this period.
You earn one Betfair Holiday when you register and one additional Betfair Holiday every three months thereafter. You may use your Betfair Holiday at any time but cannot accrue more than four unused Betfair Holidays on your account.
The Betfair Holidays section within the My Account section provides a calendar of the next 26 weeks and enables you to book or cancel Betfair Holidays for any of these weeks.
This section only applies to the Betfair ‘Exchange Multiples’ product and does not apply to the ‘Fixed Odds Multiples’ product.
Betfair charges commission on winning sports Multiples bets. The commission is usually 5% of winnings but may vary from time to time. Always check the Rules tab to be sure what commission rate applies. If your Multiples bet loses you do not pay commission.
Betfair Points are awarded in the same way as for sports betting markets. If your bet wins you will be awarded 1 Betfair Point for every 10 pence of commission paid. If your bet loses you will be awarded 1 Betfair Point for every 10 pence of implied commission.
When betting on horse racing Multiples the odds of each leg will be based on the Betfair SP, adjusted by a margin. This margin is usually 5% but may vary from time to time. No commission is payable on winnings on horse racing Multiples.
Betfair Points are awarded on the basis of one Betfair Point for every £2 won or lost on each Multiple. E.g. a £10 winning multiple with combined odds of 11 would be awarded 50 Betfair Points based on £100 of winnings. If the same multiple were a loser 5 Betfair Points would be awarded on the £10 loss.
When betting Tote Pools via Betfair or placing other Tote bets with Betfair (for example UK Tote bets) you earn 1 Betfair Point for every 1 GBP staked. All Betfair Points earned from UK Tote bets over the course of a week (Monday to Sunday) will be credited to your Betfair account the following Monday.
For the purpose of calculating Betfair Points your total stake is rebased to British Pounds and you earn 1 Betfair Point for every full Pound staked.
This section only applies to the Betfair Exchange.
In addition to any commission payments, Betfair customers will be charged a transaction fee if they process a large number of transactions on either the main Betting Exchange or on Exchange Games.
NB - Transaction Charges only apply to customers placing or editing more than 1000 bets an hour (although in the case of Exchange Games, the editing of bets is not included). The number of bets placed across the Betting Exchange and Exchange Games are calculated separately for the purposes of calculating any Transaction Charges payable. So, for example, if within the same hour you placed 800 bets on the Betting Exchange and 700 bets on Exchange Games, no Transaction Charges would be payable in respect of any of those bets.
At the end of every day, we add up all the bets you placed or edited (whether matched, cancelled or lapsed). If this number is in excess of 1000 in any hour of the day then:
For the purpose of Transaction Charges, bets on financial markets will count as 0.25 of a bet. This will form the basis of the transaction fee, but we will offset this fee against the following amount:
(Commission + Implied Commission) ÷ 2
where
Implied Commission = market losses x 3%
NB: the Exchange Games transaction charge is offset using commission paid instead of commission generated.
Any remaining amount will be charged to your account on a daily basis. Should your (commission + implied commission) ÷ 2 exceed this amount, you will not be charged a transaction fee. Accounts that relate to one person, entity, API subscription or a Master account (Trading version only) with related Sub accounts are treated as one customer for the purposes of transaction charging. Note that no Betfair points will accrue for transaction fees.
Example 1:
You are an API user who pays (commission + implied commission) ÷ 2 of £18.50 throughout a given day.
However, between the hours of 14:00 and 15:00 you placed 2500 bets and between the hours of 15:00 and 16:00 you placed 3250 bets, but in other hours you placed less than 1000 bets.
Your base transaction charge is (2500-1000)*£0.01 + (3250-1000)*£0.01 = £37.50.
Therefore you will receive an additional £37.50-£18.50 = £19.00 on the following day.
Example 2: You are a Website user who pays (commission + implied commission) ÷ 2 of £20.00 throughout a given day.
However, between the hours of 14:00 and 15:00 you placed 3000 bets on financial markets and 1500 bets on non financial markets. In all other hours you placed less than 1000 bets on all markets.
Your base transaction charge is (((3000*0.25) + 1500)-1000)*£0.02 = £25.00.
Therefore you will receive an additional £25.00-£20.00 = £5.00 on the following day.
Charges relating to the deposit and withdrawal of funds to or from your Betfair account are set out in the deposit and withdrawal pages within the ‘My Account’ section on the website. However, additional charges may apply in some cases to reflect the cost incurred by Betfair as a result of processing excessive transactions.
Please note that if you become eligible to incur additional deposit and withdrawal charges, we will contact you before any charges are paid.
The Premium Charge only applies in respect of bets placed on the Betfair Exchange and it does not apply to any bets placed on other Betfair products.
In addition to the other charges detailed above, a small number (less than 0.5%) of our most successful customers will incur Premium Charges.
Any customer affected by the Premium Charge will be notified in advance.
Each week Betfair will calculate your ‘gross profits’* made, and your ‘total charges’** generated over the lifetime of your account. The details of these calculations are explained below.
You’ll only be considered for the Premium Charge if your account is in profit and only if the total charges generated since joining Betfair are less than 20% of your gross profits.
The vast majority of customers, and even the majority of those whose betting on Betfair is profitable since they joined, do not meet both these conditions and will not incur the Premium Charge.
While those conditions accurately describe our most successful customers, they might also apply to new customers who have only bet in a few markets, or those whose accounts are in profit because of a significant big win. To ensure that those accounts are not inadvertently charged, we’ve added two further conditions: any single win that constitutes more than 50% of lifetime gross profits will be excluded from the calculation, and customers will only be considered for the Premium Charge after they have bet in more than 250 markets.
Each customer will also have a £1,000 allowance against the Premium Charge. This means that every customer considered for the Premium Charge will be exempted from the first £1,000 of the charge incurred.
Please note that for the purposes of calculating the charge we will assume that the charge has been in place since Betfair launched in June 2000. This means that we will consider all customers to have generated charges equal to at least 20% of lifetime gross profits as of the 12th October 2009. However, this also means that for some customers, some or all of the £1,000 allowance against the charge will have been used prior to 12th October 2009 in order to offset hypothetical charges paid. Assuming hypothetical charges had been paid prior to introduction of the charge has the effect of reducing the amount that customers would typically incur.
Each week the customers who meet all the conditions set out above will be charged the lesser of:
This means that you will not be faced with a Premium Charge that is more than 20% of your gross profits for the previous week. Please note this figure applies exclusively to the maximum amount of Premium Charge payable. It is possible for the total amount of Premium Charges and commission paid to exceed 20%.
Please note that the second of the two calculations set out above can only ever reduce the Premium Charge and will apply on the rare occasion that the difference between 20% of gross profits and the total charges generated during the lifetime of the account is less than the same calculation for the previous week.
Premium Charges will be deducted from customer accounts weekly (on Wednesdays) in relation to the previous week’s activity (Monday to Sunday).
In circumstances where Betfair considers, in its absolute discretion, that multiple accounts have been used by one person or group of persons in order to avoid or reduce liability for the Premium Charge, Betfair shall be entitled to treat those accounts as if they relate to one person for the purposes of calculating Premium Charges. In such circumstances Betfair shall link those accounts and the linked accounts shall be jointly and severally liable for any unpaid Premium Charge. The Premium Charge will be debited from any such account(s) where applicable.
*By ‘gross profits’ we mean the amounts won, excluding total charges, less the amounts lost, on all Betfair markets.
**By ‘total charges’ we mean all commission generated by Betfair as a result of your betting plus any Premium Charges you’ve incurred. ‘Commission generated’ includes half the commission paid on winnings, but also half the commission that Betfair makes from the other customers who win in markets in which you’ve lost, which we call ‘implied commission’. When you win, Betfair collects commission at your rate of commission, but when you lose, the commission collected by Betfair from the winners is at their rate. So we’ll determine the commission generated by your betting activity to be:
Commission generated = (Commission + Implied Commission) ÷ 2
where
Implied Commission = market losses x 3%
We divide by 2 because otherwise we’d be counting each pound of commission twice.
Premium Charge Summary
You will only be considered for the Premium Charge if, over the lifetime of your account, you satisfy the following criteria:
Two further conditions reduce the likelihood that you will be required to pay the Premium Charge:
Each week the customers who meet all the conditions set out above will be charged the lesser of:
Example 1
You have won gross profits of £10,000 since joining Betfair having bet in 800 markets.
You have paid total charges of £980; all of which has been paid through commission generated.
You have not been charged any Premium Charges to date although you have fully used up your allowance of £1,000.
During the previous week you won £500 and paid total charges of £80.
You are therefore charged £20 in Premium Charges ((£500 x 20%) - £80 = £20).
Example 2 - Charge Allowance
You have won gross profits of £10,000 since joining Betfair having bet in 320 markets.
You have generated £1,050 in commission and paid no Premium Charge to date.
During the previous week you won £500 and paid total charges of £50.
In the absence of a charge allowance you would have been charged Premium Charges of £50 ((£500 x 20%) - £50 = £50).
However, the £50 is offset against the £1,000 charge allowance meaning that no additional Premium Charge is paid.
You then carry over the balance of your charge allowance (£950) to offset against potential future Premium Charges.
Example 3 – Excluding ‘big’ wins
You have won gross profits of £8,000 since joining Betfair having bet in 500 markets.
You have paid total charges of £1,025, all of which has been paid through commission generated.
During the previous week you won £5,000 from a single market and paid total charges of £125.
As the win constitutes more than 50% of your total gross profits since joining Betfair, it is excluded for the purposes of calculating the Premium Charge.
However, the commission generated on the win does contribute towards total charges paid.
After the win is removed you have gross profits of £3,000 and total charges of £1,025 and therefore incur no additional Premium Charge.
Premium Charges at higher rates
Higher rates of Premium Charge will apply to the very small number of customers (less than 0.1%) that satisfy the following conditions over the lifetime of their account:
The Premium Charge rate applied to each customer that satisfies these conditions is dependent on their lifetime commission generated to gross profits ratio. The exact rate will be determined by the following table:
|
Lifetime commission generated to gross profits ratio |
Applicable Premium Charge Rate |
|---|---|
|
< 5% |
60% |
|
5% - 10% |
50% |
|
10%+ |
40% |
Please note that any single market win that constitutes more than 50% of your lifetime gross profits will be excluded from all calculations.
If you satisfy the conditions set out above on 20th June 2011, your lifetime commission generated to gross profits ratio on that date will be used to determine the Premium Charge rate that will be applied to your betting thereafter. If you first satisfy the conditions above after 20th June 2011, your Premium Charge rate will be determined based on your lifetime commission generated to gross profits ratio at that time.
The amount of Premium Charge incurred by each customer will be calculated in exactly the same way as the standard Premium Charge with the exception that the standard 20% rate will be replaced with increased rate applicable to the individual in each case.
For the purposes of introducing a change to the Premium Charge rate that applies to your betting, we will assume that you have always incurred the Premium Charge at the prevailing rate. For example, if the Premium Charge rate applicable to your betting increases from 20% to 40%, we will assume that you have always paid Premium Charges at 40%. However, as explained in the “Calculating Potential Charges” section above, this also means that for some customers, some or all of the £1,000 allowance against the charge will have been used in order to offset hypothetical charges paid. Assuming hypothetical charges had been paid prior to introduction of the charge has the effect of reducing the amount that customers would typically incur.
It is possible that your lifetime commission generated to gross profits ratio will change to the extent that your applicable Premium Charge rate will require adjustment. Should your rate change, we will recalculate as if you had always incurred the Premium Charge at the new rate. If your rate has decreased (eg if your lifetime commission generated to gross profits ratio increases from 4.9% to 5.1% - moving you from a 60% rate to 50% rate), the Premium Charges you ‘overpaid’ when being charged the higher rate previously will be used to offset future Premium Charges. If your rate has increased, Betfair will notify you directly and give you at least two weeks’ notice before the increased rate takes effect. You are entitled to seek review of your Premium Charge rate at any time.
***By ‘net profits’ we mean the amounts won less the amounts lost, on all Betfair markets, less all commission paid and Premium Charges debited.