On the latest episode of iGaming Daily, supported by Optimove, Charlie Horner, SBC’s Media Manager, was joined by Kieran O’Connor and Ted Orme-Claye from the Payment Expert and Insider Sport team to discuss what they learned from their time at SBC Summit 2024. 

Focusing first on payments, Kieran spoke about some of the talking points from a panel focused on the benefits and pitfalls of Open Banking.

He said: “The panel was centred around how Open Banking can be used from an affordability check point-of-view. But there have been struggles with Open Banking from the operator’s point-of-view where Open Banking gives them so much data that it’s sometimes too much and they’re struggling with that.

“We also had someone from a payments point-of-view there who assured us that Open Banking is a very small segment of open finances and when certain regulations come into play it will truly unlock its full potential. But at the minute, you’ve got to remind yourself and operators that what they’re using is a small cog in a very big machine.”

After a short break, the trio’s attention then turned to sport and both Kieran and Ted spent some time speaking to people involved in the UK horse racing industry about some of the problems with the sport and what innovations can be brought to the table to help horse racing.

“I spoke with the Arena Racing Company, who is quite a big stakeholder in the UK racing sector,” explained Ted.

“It was about some of the things they’ve been working on to engage with fans and upgrade their product. It’s coming at quite a crucial time for racing in the UK which has been having a bit of a rocky history over the past couple of years and a few financial struggles.

“I think finding a way to connect with the audience is something that racing really needs to crack.”

Kieran also spoke to Josh Sparke, Director of Procurement and Business Development at Livescore Group, who revealed that some sportsbooks have been reconsidering the value of offering horse racing on their platforms.

As a result, Sparke stressed the need in his interview for horse racing to innovate and “get with the times” in order to attract a newer, younger audience to the sport.