Wheelz Casino news
Dated updates for Kiwi players: bonus rule changes, pokies in the NZ lobby, licence and group moves, and the bank changes that touch your deposits. Newest first.
15 dated stories Updated 25 Sep 2026 MGA/B2C/1079/2025
This page collects Wheelz Casino news that matters to New Zealand players, and every story carries the date it actually happened. The latest is the Games Inc content deal of 20 August 2026; the oldest is launch day, 13 January 2021. Use the chips to show one category and the page buttons to go back in time.
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Games Inc slots are heading to Wildz Group casinos, Wheelz included
Wildz Group, the company behind Wheelz Casino, signed a content deal with the slot studio Games Inc on 20 August 2026. The announcement lists Wheelz among the selected group brands that will carry Games Inc titles, alongside Wildz, Caxino, Spinz and Tuplaus.
The studio builds pokies with clear themes and mechanics you pick up in a spin or two. Deals like this reach each brand and market in stages, so give the NZ lobby some time; when the games arrive, demo mode lets you try one before you stake NZ dollars.
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Kiwibank switches on open banking in its app and internet banking
On 28 May 2026 Kiwibank became the first New Zealand bank to offer open banking through all of its digital channels, for personal and business customers alike. Payments and data sharing with accredited providers now sit inside internet banking and the Kiwibank app, with data sharing arriving six months ahead of the bank's regulatory deadline.
For a Wheelz deposit nothing changes. The NZ cashier still takes Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, MiFinity and Payz from NZ$10, plus Paysafecard and CashtoCode for deposits, with no fees in either direction.
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Wacky Panda Power Combo gives a classic three-reeler new tricks
Slingshot Studios and Games Global released Wacky Panda Power Combo on 18 February 2026, a remake of the 2017 Wacky Panda. It keeps three reels and one payline, then adds Hyperspins that respin a single reel, a Link&Win round on a 5x5 grid and an Upsizer.
The studio lists 96% RTP at the top setting, high volatility and a best win of 9,674x the bet. Wacky Panda is on the Wheelz NZ popular list, so the panda already has fans here. Open the game rules to see which RTP version you are playing.
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Open banking rules take effect at ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac
From 1 December 2025 New Zealand's four largest banks fall under open banking regulations made under the Customer and Product Data Act 2025. With your consent, they must share account data with accredited providers and let those providers start payments from your account. MBIE decides who is accredited.
Kiwibank follows in two steps: payments in June 2026 and account data in December 2026. The change is about how apps connect to your bank. Your card works the way it did, so a Wheelz deposit still starts at NZ$10 and lands instantly.
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Bonus terms version 2.0 set the NZ$1,000 + 100 free spins offer
Wheelz published version 2.0 of its general bonus terms on 19 November 2025, and it is the rulebook behind the current New Zealand welcome offer. Your first deposit is matched 100% up to NZ$1,000 with 100 free spins, paid as 10 a day for 10 days at NZ$0.10 each. Four more deposits take the package to NZ$5,000 in total.
The minimum deposit is NZ$10, wagering is 35x and the welcome bonus stays valid for 60 days. With bonus money in play the cap is NZ$5 per spin. Real money is used first, and you can forfeit the bonus at any time and withdraw your real balance.
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Loyalty cashback pays 10-20% of weekly net losses at 1x
Section 18 of the same terms covers loyalty cashback. You get 10% to 20% of your weekly net casino losses back, with an extra 2% for every NZ$2,000 of net losses until the 20% ceiling. The cashback week starts on Friday at 00:00 UTC.
It is paid as bonus money with a single 1x playthrough, and at least NZ$15 has to build up before it is credited. The pot is shared across Wildz, Caxino, Wheelz, Spinz and Tuplaus: it shows on each account you hold and disappears from the others once you claim it on one brand.
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Wheel of Spinz: how the progress bar turns bets into spins
Section 16 of the terms explains the feature Wheelz is known for. Every real-money or bonus bet of NZ$0.20 or more moves the progress bar, and a full bar earns a spin on the Wheel of Spinz. As you level up, the letters W-H-E-E-L-Z light up one by one.
Free spins won on the wheel are played on a game Wheelz picks, and their winnings carry the normal 35x bonus wagering. It rewards play you were doing anyway, so there is no need to raise your stake.
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Westpac NZ puts a gambling switch in its app
Westpac NZ said on 30 October 2025 that customers can now stop a debit or credit card being used for gambling straight from the Westpac One app or online banking. It went live in mid-October, covers gambling websites at home and overseas, and turning it off again comes with a two-day stand-down.
If a Wheelz card deposit is declined without a clear reason, check whether this switch is on. If you set it on purpose, leave it there: the Gambling Helpline on 0800 654 655 is free and confidential.
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New MGA licence MGA/B2C/1079/2025 goes to Granturo Malta Ltd
On 10 September 2025 the Malta Gaming Authority issued licence MGA/B2C/1079/2025 to Granturo Malta Ltd, company C 107733 of Birkirkara, the operator named in the Wheelz footer today. It took over from MGA/B2C/599/2018, the Rootz Limited licence Wheelz had run under since launch, which dated from 30 April 2019.
The register lists the new licence as Licensed. You can confirm the number on the MGA licence register in under a minute, no account needed. The footer also carries ISO 27001 and Fiducert seals, and the terms name eCOGRA as the dispute-resolution service.
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Rootz becomes the Wildz Group
The company behind Wheelz changed its name on 2 July 2025: Rootz became the Wildz Group, after its flagship casino and sportsbook brand. Nothing moved under the hood. The casinos still run on the platform the group built itself, which is why Wheelz, Wildz, Caxino, Spinz and Tuplaus share features such as pooled loyalty cashback.
The group said more brands would follow. For Kiwi players the visible change came a few weeks later, when the licence and the footer switched to the new Maltese company in September.
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Gates of Olympus 1000 lifts the multiplier ceiling
Pragmatic Play released Gates of Olympus 1000 on 14 December 2023, a sequel to one of its best-known pokies. It keeps the 6x5 pay-anywhere grid and the tumble feature. Zeus now throws random multipliers from 2x to 1,000x, four scatters give 15 free spins with multipliers that add up, and the top win is 15,000x the bet.
The studio offers RTP settings of 96.50%, 95.51% and 94.50%, so the rules screen tells you which one you have. It is one of the popular titles in the Wheelz NZ lobby.
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Wheelz named Rising Star at the CasinoGrounds Awards
Ten months after launch, Wheelz won the Rising Star title at the CasinoGrounds Awards 2021, and Rootz announced the win on 18 November 2021. Sister casino Caxino finished runner-up for Casino of the Year on the same night.
Rootz credited its own platform: rewards shaped around each player, quick pages and a growing game list. The announcement also pointed to David Hasselhoff, the face of the brand, whose likeness pops up across the site at random moments.
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Kiwibank lets customers block online gambling on their cards
On 13 April 2021 Kiwibank rolled out a block that stops online gambling payments on its Visa debit and credit cards, set up at the customer's request. It grew out of a pilot that began in September 2020, and the bank brought in PGF Services from the Problem Gambling Foundation to train its staff. Three in four pilot customers kept the block for more than three months.
Wheelz gives you tools of its own as well: deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion in your account. The Problem Gambling Foundation answers on 0800 664 262.
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Amazing Link Zeus arrives from SpinPlay Games
SpinPlay Games released Amazing Link Zeus through Microgaming, today part of Games Global, on 16 March 2021, two months after Wheelz opened. It is a 5x3 pokie with 20 paylines, a stacked Zeus wild and the Amazing Link respin round that collects cash prizes on the reels.
A Zeus Pick game adds four jackpots, the free spins trigger the Link feature often, and the top prize is 5,000x the stake. The listed RTP is 96.33%. The game started a whole Amazing Link series, and Zeus still sits on the Wheelz NZ popular list.
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Wheelz Casino opens with David Hasselhoff as ambassador
Wheelz Casino went live on Wednesday 13 January 2021 as the third brand from Malta's Rootz, after Wildz in July 2019 and Caxino in 2020. The launch came with a famous face: David Hasselhoff of Knight Rider and Baywatch signed on as brand ambassador, with TV ads and bonus games featuring the Hoff announced alongside.
Rootz described the new casino as colourful and fast, built on its own platform with rewards that land in real time. That platform still runs Wheelz today.
15 stories, newest first.
Prefer a reader app? The same stories are in our RSS feed, which updates whenever a new item goes up here.
Five categories of Wheelz updates
Each story gets one tag, and the chips above the feed use the same five. Here is what goes where among these Wheelz Casino updates.
Brand
The company, its licence and its milestones: launch day with the Hoff, the Rising Star award, the Wildz Group name and the September 2025 MGA licence. 4 stories so far.
Promotions
Wheelz promotions news taken straight from the dated terms: the welcome package, loyalty cashback and the Wheel of Spinz. Every figure names the terms version it comes from.
Games
New games at Wheelz and pokies from the NZ popular list, dated by the studio's own release. Each comes with the grid, RTP and top win.
Payments
New Zealand banking changes that reach your deposits. The cashier facts stay fixed: NZ$10 minimum deposit, NZ$20 minimum withdrawal, bank transfer withdrawals from NZ$50, no fees either way.
Safer play
Tools that help you keep gambling in check, from bank card blocks to the limits in your Wheelz account, plus the free NZ help lines.
How dates are checked
A story shows the day the event went public: a press release, a studio launch or a new terms version. If I cannot pin the day down, the story does not run. Figures were rechecked on 25 September 2026.
What players say about the recent changes
The themes that come up most in player forums and reviews, in our own words.
The wheel gives every session a goal
People like that an ordinary NZ$0.20 bet still fills the progress bar, and that the lit-up letters show how close the next spin is. The tip that comes with it: wheel spins land on a game Wheelz chooses, so enjoy the surprise.
Daily spin batches suit short visits
The 100 welcome spins arrive as ten a day, and players who log in for a few minutes each day say it spreads the fun nicely. Each batch lasts 24 hours, so a daily check-in keeps all of them.
Cashback that is easy to clear
The 1x playthrough on loyalty cashback is the detail reviewers mention most. Players with accounts at more than one group casino also like seeing one shared cashback pot instead of several small ones.
Verify early, cash out smoothly
Players who send photo ID and proof of address before their first withdrawal describe the smoothest payouts. After approval, money reaches you in 2-5 days, and nothing is taken in fees.
Keep Reading
Catch the next update from inside the lobby
New pokies, the Wheel of Spinz and the NZ$1,000 + 100 free spins offer all sit in one account. Sign-up takes a minute and the offer starts from a NZ$10 deposit.