Matchbook Review: Commission, Liquidity And Licence History
Matchbook Review: A 2% Exchange Commission That Helps, Thin Liquidity That Hurts, And A Regulatory Past
Matchbook charges about 2% on net winnings and runs a mobile-first exchange. We weigh that rate against Betfair's depth, the 2020 licence suspension and the fine print on its free-commission offers.
Our score
6.9/10Rated 6.9 out of 10
Verdict
Matchbook is a useful second exchange, not a replacement for Betfair. A flat 2% on net winnings is cheaper than the 5% headline rate people quote for Betfair, and the app gets good store ratings. But liquidity on anything beyond Premier League football and UK racing can leave bets unmatched, and the company has a licence suspension and a fine on its record. Open an account to compare prices, and keep your main balance where the markets are deeper.
Best for
Exchange users who want a cheaper second book to compare prices
Commission is quoted at about 2% of net winnings per market, with no charge on losing bets
New-customer offer of 0% commission for the first 110 days, with exclusions for some deposit methods
Good coverage of US sports for an exchange, plus UK football and horse racing
App Store rating of 4.7 from about 1,600 reviews and Google Play 4.4 from 650, per one review
A Visa withdrawal reached one tester in 35 minutes, against an official 1 to 3 days
What held it back
Liquidity trails Betfair, and niche markets can be hard to get matched
UK Gambling Commission suspended its licence in February 2020 after a two-year review
Its owner was later fined for failings in anti-money-laundering and social responsibility checks
Sources disagree on the commission, from 1% to 2%, so check the rate card before staking
Promotions carry exclusions, such as no qualifying deposits by Skrill, Neteller or Paysafecard
A betting exchange makes money differently from a bookmaker. There is no margin built into the odds: you bet against other users and the exchange takes commission. So the first number to ask for is the commission, and the second is whether anyone is on the other side of your bet. Matchbook is strong on the first and uneven on the second.
A note on method. Matchbook's own site refused our automated requests, so we could not capture its screens. This review rests on independent and regulatory reporting, which we cite, and on the arithmetic of the commission itself.
What 2% actually costs
Reviewers quote a flat 2 percent of net profit per market, and one page says Matchbook advertises exactly that. A back bet at 3.0 for £100 that wins returns £200 profit, and 2 percent of that is £4. A losing bet pays nothing. Compare the 5 percent headline rate that one review gives for Betfair, and the saving on that same win is £6.
The sources do not agree. Good Money Guide's summary says 1 percent on each bet while its own pros list says 2 percent, and FootballGroundGuide notes rates "as low as 1.7% or 0.85%" in the past. Treat 2 percent as the working figure and read the live rate card before you stake.
The 110 days of free commission
New customers are offered 0 percent commission for the first 110 days, reported with the code COMMFREE110. Deposits by Skrill, Neteller or Paysafecard do not qualify. Promotions like this one change often, so the terms may differ by the time you read this.
Free commission is a good reason to open an account and compare prices on the same market across exchanges. It is a bad reason to deposit more than you planned. After 110 days you are on the standard rate, and the real test begins.
Liquidity: where the cheap commission runs out
Good Money Guide (rating it 3.6 out of 5, 6.1 out of 10 overall) says liquidity is "not as good as Betfair", and it rates the platform below Smarkets. FootballGroundGuide agrees on popular markets, naming Premier League football and UK and Irish racing as the deep ones, and warns that niche markets "can be poor, making it harder to get bets matched."
That matters more than the commission. A saving of £6 on a win is worth nothing if half your stake sits unmatched, or if you take a worse price to get filled. The practical habit is to check the depth on the exact market, place a small bet first and see how it fills.
Coverage is better than you might guess for American sports. Good Money Guide praises Matchbook's US sports lines, such as American football, alongside the UK menu, though it says the market range is narrower than BetDaq's.
The app, and getting money out
On the app, FootballGroundGuide reports 4.7 stars from about 1,600 App Store ratings and 4.4 from 650 on Google Play. That reads as a well-liked mobile product.
A review page for the Matchbook app, listing the 110-day commission-free offer
Withdrawal times are officially up to 24 hours for e-wallets and 1 to 3 business days for cards. In that site's testing a Visa withdrawal took 35 minutes. Some users report delays when verification checks are triggered. That fits what the regulator has asked of the company, which brings us to the record.
A licence suspension and a fine
In February 2020 the UK Gambling Commission suspended Matchbook's operating licence with immediate effect, after a licence review that had run for about two years. Gaming Intelligence dated its report February 19, 2020.
iGaming Business's report on the 2020 suspension of Matchbook's UK operating licence
The suspension was later lifted. Racing Post then reported that the owner was fined £740,000 over what the regulator called serious failings. We did not find a precise date for the fine in the material we could read, so check the Gambling Commission's public register for details.
None of this means your money is at risk today. It does mean the company's anti-money-laundering and customer-protection controls were found wanting once. Expect to be asked for identity documents and source-of-funds evidence, and expect that to slow a withdrawal.
Reading the affiliate pages with care
Many of the pages that review exchanges earn money when you sign up. The Matchbook UK page we captured says "Better Odds. Lower Commission. No House Edge", and quotes 2 percent on net winnings.
An affiliate review of Matchbook, quoting 2% commission on net winnings and a sign-up offer
"No house edge" is true of the structure and misleading as a promise: you still pay commission, you still lose bets, and spreads between back and lay prices act as a cost on thin markets.
Who it suits
Matchbook suits a bettor who already uses Betfair or Smarkets and wants to shop prices at a lower commission. It does not suit someone who wants a single deep home for large stakes, or who bets mainly in thin markets. We rate it 6.9: good value where it has liquidity, held back by depth and by its record.
Betting carries real risk of loss. This is a review, not financial advice, and you should only stake money you can afford to lose.
