Many bingo players miss out on better rooms and bonuses because they don’t know where to look. Combining my insider experience with my playing passion I'll help you get more from your games.
From branded exclusives like Loose Women Bingo to tech-powered innovations like Mega Money Live, I sat down with Robert Lee from Rank Interactive to chat about how Mecca Bingo is keeping bingo fresh, fun, and firmly future-facing.
Mecca Bingo is best known for blending its iconic British bingo hall heritage with cutting-edge online innovation - creating a trusted, community-driven experience both in-club and on-screen, and it’s one of the top picks featured on our best bingo sites list at OLBG.
Ready for some bingo brilliance? Here’s the full Q&A – enjoy the read!
OLBG: Why should players opt for Mecca Bingo ahead of other bingo brands?
RL: Meccabingo.com offers a great range of games and entertainment. As the OG of Bingo in Britain, we have great heritage, but we’ve also moved with the times, ensuring that we stay relevant and exciting, offering players a great community, winnability they can trust and most importantly in a safe environment.
OLBG: Branded rooms such as Loose Women and Deal or No Deal seem to be a huge draw. How important are these for driving engagement?
RL: Partnerships such as our sponsorships of Loose Women enable us to differentiate Meccabingo.com from other operators in the market. By working closely with ITV we’ve built multiple touchpoints with Loose Women, including promotion around the programme, all helping to boost brand awareness and drive engagement.
That relationship has also allowed us to create exclusive, bespoke games including Loose Women Bingo, multiple scratchcards and our own Loose Women Slingo, which can only be found at Meccabingo.com – giving fans of the show a unique place to play.
OLBG: Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities for bingo in the next 3–5 years? (Mobile? Slots integration? Bingo+slots hybrids? Live presenters?)
RL: Without doubt, technology is the biggest enabler of growth across the industry. At Mecca our focus is on bringing our in-club and online communities together.
We will shortly have one single app and one single membership and we’ve just launched our Mega Money Live game, which sees our online and in club communities play bingo together, with our show hosts calling live from our clubs.
Ultimately technology is giving our customers more choice about how, when and where they play, generating more excitement whilst keeping them safe.
OLBG: What promotions do you offer across your bingo brands? And can you explain Mecca Perks?
RL: We aim to offer lots of engaging promotions, from free daily games online to our loyalty programme, Mecca Perks, which enables our in-club players to unlock free rewards online.
We have a well-established high street brand, with 50 bricks and mortar clubs around the UK and we want retail customers to think of Meccabingo.com as our 51st club, that they can visit whenever and wherever they are.
OLBG: How quickly do you process withdrawals and what options can players use?
RL: Customers can use debit cards; Apple Pay and PayPal for deposits and withdrawals. In 93% of cases, money will be transferred to your bank within 15 minutes and 99.997% of withdrawals are completed within 24 hours. The only exception to this will be for larger wins that require further verification
OLBG: How has player behaviour changed post-pandemic? Are sessions longer, shorter, or more mobile-heavy?
RL: The pandemic, combined with ever changing technology has created some behavioural shifts. In particular we’re seeing more dual screening – particularly from customers who play on their mobiles – with players frequently engaging in multiple activities at the same time.
And that’s something that we must consider when designing our apps, website and content. Laptop players are more likely to interact with site, taking advantage of online chatrooms and increasing their play.
OLBG: How do you promote your bingo clubs to online players?
RL: We’ve always had a big clubs presence on the website and used cross channel advertising in our promotions, but we’re particularly excited about new developments like Mega Money Live, which brings both communities together to play, with numbers called live from our clubs by our show hosts.
It’s the only cross channel game in the industry which captures the real, live atmosphere in club.
OLBG: You’ve worked in bingo for years - what keeps you excited about the sector?
RL: It’s a fantastic and fun sector to work in! It’s a great British tradition that continues to evolve, which is why today 44% of our retail customer sign ups are under 35, week in, week out.
It’s great to be part of a team that is helping to ensure that bingo is here to stay for future generations to discover and enjoy
OLBG: Do you want to highlight any of your current bingo promotions or products?
RL: We play Mecca Prize Promise three times a day - and everyone who plays is a winner! Tickets are just 1p and there’s over £12,000 up for grabs every week.
I’ve already mentioned Mega Money Live – our latest game which brings our online and digital customers together to play. Tickets are available now for our next game, which will be on 1st August, when a guaranteed £35,000 must be won!
And watch out for something exciting coming towards the end of the year…..
