To begin last week’s SBC Digital – Player Protection online conference, Vixio explored four of the latest trends in player protection policy.

Affordability checks – when not if

Affordability checks have been the “dominant topic” of UK gambling policy and Joe Ewens, Gaming Compliance Managing Editor for Vixio, explained that it is a case of “when, not if” for markets globally.

From 30 August, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) began its pilot of frictionless ‘light touch’ financial risk assessments. Elsewhere, from 1 October operators in the Netherlands have also had to perform affordability checks linked to a system of deposit limits.

On the potential for expanded use of affordability checks, Ewens said: “From an operator’s standpoint, you can see that affordability checks are clearly a preferable option. It enables gamblers to potentially go past high deposit limits.

“But it’s also fair to say that that the concept has proved to be pretty controversial. Some [customers] don’t like the idea of gambling operators being able to look into their personal finances. Also on a political front, in some jurisdictions, it’s crossed a political and ethical boundary around privacy and the right for people to spend their money as they wish.

“So while we see the concept growing it’s certain to remain a politically charged area for gambling regulation.”

Monitoring and intervention

Another aspect of regulation that is becoming more common, according to Vixio’s Chief Analyst James Kilsby, is the concept of customer monitoring and intervention.

Kilsby said: “We have already seen both third-party providers and operators themselves develop and implement monitoring systems that enable operators to evaluate the behaviour of players and intervene based on behavioural triggers.

“It’s been an obligation in the UK and several other European markets for several years but I do think what we are seeing as part of the trend is that it is becoming more common for regulations to directly mandate monitoring and intervention.”

For example, it is a requirement to implement such systems in Ontario and New Jersey, as well as in Brazil when the country’s regulated online gaming market opens on 1 January 2025.

Single customer view

Next up was the idea of a single customer view. This is a system where operators share customer data with competitors to ensure at-risk customers do not switch between operators. 

The German market has such a system in place and the UK is also currently piloting its own scheme, titled Gamprotect.

Currently, only six providers are signed up to Gamprotect and Ewens predicted that the UKGC may make participation mandatory and a “core part of UK gambling licensing”.

On the concept of a single customer view, he said: “It affords the industry a certain amount of oversight of its players and their gambling habits.

“It’s a pretty complex IT system and it’s certainly not without its issues. The German industry has complained of various downtimes which creates technical headaches and definitely compliance headaches.”

He added that there are additional concerns over data privacy and cyber security as it represents “another point of entry where customer data is being stored, and also potentially quite a lucrative one if it’s collecting a lot of information”.

Advertising – a Brazilian case study

Rounding out the 25-minute presentation, Kilsby spoke about the future of advertising as an increasing number of regulators have placed restrictions on advertising with the view of improving player protection. 

Kilsby placed his focus specifically on social media advertising, which offers unique challenges compared to traditional advertising methods as operators and regulators have less control over when ads will be viewed and by whom. 

He explained that the Brazilian market will act as an “interesting case study” as to how effective regulations can be for controlling advertising by influencers and will be monitored by regulators across various markets including Europe and North America. 

“The Brazilian offshore market has exploded in size over recent years and a meaningful driver of that growth has been social media influencers promoting offshore sites in a way that would not fit within the four corners of any jurisdictions responsible gambling regulations,” said Kilsby.

“The Brazilian regulator has taken steps here. Influencers and other types of affiliates that promote platforms include a requirement for those partners to be trained on responsible gambling and to abide by advertising, marketing and other rules.”

You can register to watch all six sessions from the Player Protection Day by clicking here.