Located at sun-infused Malta was Crucial Compliance’s CEO Paul Foster, who sat down with SBC during this year’s CasinoBeats Summit to talk about how technology has allowed for improvements in safer gambling.

Foster shared that he believes safer gambling has been “badly introduced” globally, with the majority of operators doing only what’s required of them and never going beyond. Instead, they should start putting immense efforts into protecting their player, Foster said.

He continued: “When you look at protecting the players, then you can start to introduce really relevant safer gambling policies across an organisation.”

As an incentive to invest into a better player protection initiative, Foster pointed out that today’s world of gambling offers far more options compared to five years ago, offering affordability combined with automatic processing and ready-to-use software.

“One of the benefits now of the industry compared to five years ago is that a lot more technology solutions are available for companies to go buy off the shelfs,” Foster said. “The days of having to develop your own in-house solution are long gone.”

Finding the right solution to promote safer gambling, the CEO added, depends on understanding the player profiles, the organisation’s budget and what it aims to achieve with it. 

Highlighting what Crucial Compliance would like to see in the near future, Foster said that he hopes player protection becomes integrated into every platform, making it the “de facto business-as-usual”.

“I think that’s the only way we’re going to change the industry and get the regulators and the press off of our backs. Take the ownership, develop safer gambling strategies and implement them right into the heart of the business.”

Briefly providing an overview of why he thinks Malta has become so prevalent in the gambling world, Frost said: “Malta has been able over the years to adapt and change. It’s very attractive for the majority of gaming employees because most are young people who come here. They like the island, there’s sunshine, there’s beaches, there’s bars, it’s a fun place to live. 

“As a result, if you can attract the talent then you can build a talent pool. I also think the UK’s Brexit helped as well because the other territories around the world like Gibraltar and the Isle of Man have taken the backseat from a European perspective, so that allowed for Malta to thrive.”

The Netherlands was also mentioned, being one of the top discussions that Foster looked forward to discussing at the CasinoBeats Summit, as he thought it would be interesting to see operators come together in an attempt to find a solution to the problems in the newly-regulated market. 

When asked about what he finds the most useful for Crucial Compliance from the event, Foster concluded: “One of the key things about these events is meeting people, that’s been really positive. But also you find out so much new information. 

“You meet new suppliers, you listen to what your contemporaries are doing in other countries. So, it’s really important to attend events like these so that you can just talk to people and also share knowledge, which is really good in this industry.”