Future Anthem, which offers data science-based solutions intended to increase player engagement and identify markers of harm for vulnerable players, will now be onboarded to Microsoft’s solutions offering and Microsoft’s own sales team will now be able to sell its products.
“To get this recognition from Microsoft is a proud achievement for Future Anthem that has required substantial input from across the business,” Future Anthem chief marketing officer Mitchell Feldman said.
“The elasticity and security of Microsoft Azure, coupled with the lead-generation injection that being a co-seller brings, means that will have a transformational effect on our ambitious growth strategy.”
Future Anthem chief executive and founder Leigh Nissim added that Future Anthem and Microsoft share a vision when it comes to future growth.
“This is a significant and exciting development that demonstrates how quickly Future Anthem is maturing and creates huge opportunity for us to hyperscale on a global basis,” Nissim said.
“Our approach to AI and data is pioneering within the igaming industry and we are incredibly pleased to land a strategic partner in Microsoft that shares our clear and ambitious vision to grow responsibly and sustainably.”
‘Completed Application’ ensures that EveryMatrix has provided all required application information on its business and key officials, in line with New Jersey’s law and igaming regulations. However, under the process to receive a transactional waiver to go live, its integrations with its operator clients still need to be given the green light.
EveryMatrix applied for a licence in the state last November as part of plans to expand its presence in the US market. This strategy saw the provider appoint former NetEnt Americas managing director Erik Nyman to lead its US growth effort, with license applications having also been filed several other states.
“Since New Jersey regulated online gaming in 2014, their framework has played an important role for other states in their process to regulate and implement online gaming,” Nyman said.
Better Collective proposed adding Hillman as a member of its board of directors last month, and shareholders voted in favour of the motion at its annual general meeting earlier today (26 April).
Hillman joined NetEnt in January 2017 as chief financial officer, going on to become interim CEO in April 2018 and taking on the role on a full-time basis in the following month.
Aside from Hillman’s appointment, Better Collective shareholders approved the re-election of Jens Bager as chairman of the board of directors at the AGM.
In addition, Klaus Holse, Leif Nørgaard, Petra Von Rohr and Todd Dunlap were approved for reappointment as members of the business’s board.
The campaign will run from today (26 April) until the beginning of the UEFA Euro 2021 tournament on 11 June.
The regulator said the aim of the campaign is to educate consumers on the difference between legal and illegal online gambling.
In order to raise awareness of which operators are licensed in Belgium, the Always Play Legally logo will be used by operators who have received written permission to do so from the Commission.
The regulator said that an estimated 20% of gaming customers in Belgium end up playing with unlicensed rather than licensed operators, which are not subject to regular checks by the commission.
The dangers of playing with unlicensed operators are “colossal”, the regulator said, as the sites have no player protection measures and there is no guarantee that winnings will be paid out.
It added that players are not always aware of the risks they are running by using unlicensed operators, and that sometimes it is not clear to them whether or not the site they are using is legal.
In addition to the use of the Always Play Legally logo, the campaign will feature a number of video clips providing answers to common questions players may have about the difference between licensed and unlicensed operators, including the risks of playing with the latter.
The CJH said that new clips will be released every week until the beginning of the UEFA Euro 2021.
Last month, the regulator signed a Memorandum of Understanding with its Dutch counterpart, the Kansspelautoriteit, in an agreement which will see the two regulators work together closely on causes including player protection and combatting illegal gambling.
Of this total, SEK1.27bn came from net gaming revenue, while agent revenue contributed a further SEK64m. The remainder was classed as other revenue.
The Swedish market continued to represent almost all of ATG’s revenue: SEK1.04bn came from its traditional revenue stream of Sweden’s horse racing market, and SEK129m came from sports betting in Sweden.
The Danish market contributed SEK42m to the gaming revenue, representing a SEK10m increase from last year.
After paying SEK253m in gambling tax, SEK116m worth of personnel costs and SEK604m of other expenses, ATG posted an operating profit of SEK435m – 21.1% more than 2020.
The operating margin of 30% is also an increase on 2020’s 26%.
After deducting SEK19m worth of income tax, the operator posted final profits of SEK416m, up 27.2% from Q1 of 2020.
ATG CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth said: “Now that we’re entering the second quarter, there’s a big probability of seeing a trend break regarding ATG’s percentage growth in comparison with last year.
A big thank you to all the employees who despite the stressful time we have lived and live in continue to have full focus on an exciting gaming experience in a neat and flexible way for everyone of our customers.”
About 750 licensed betting offices will reopen alongside many other non-essential retail premises, ending a period of closure that started on 26 December. According to the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), these shops employ 4,000 people, pay £80m (€92.0m/$111.2m) in tax and £6m in business rates.
Gaming machines at these shops will remain unavailable, however, as part of continued restrictions. In addition, televisions on the premises will be restricted to lower volumes and all customers must provide their details for the government’s test and trace programme.
The reopening comes two weeks after betting shops opened in England and Wales.
“Following the safe re-opening of betting shops in England and Wales earlier this month, Scottish shops getting back to business is another step towards normality and a welcome boost for jobs on the high street in Scotland,” BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said. “It’s great news for their staff and customers, and of course it is an important source of funding for horseracing.
“As we look forward to a great summer of sport, Scottish punters will once again be able to safely enjoy a flutter on the high street.”
While betting shops can now reopen, casinos in Scotland appear set to wait until June at the earliest to welcome back customers, after the government determined that the venues may only open again when the country’s virus situation enters “level two”.
Last month, the BGC called the decision to give casinos a later reopening date than pubs and restaurants – which may reopen at level three – “absurd”, after a report from hygiene expert Dr Lisa Acklerley said there was “no logical or scientific reason” for the distinction.
Allwyn – which was established last week in an effort to bring all of Sazka’s UK business under one umbrella – said that Nasr has established himself as a leader in the world of digital communications through time spent at some of the world’s largest technology companies, including Twitter and Google.
“How companies communicate with customers is evolving thanks to the disruptive rise of social media platforms,” said Nasr of his appointment.
“As I’ve seen during my time at Twitter, mobile means there is huge potential to establish a close 24/7 relationship between company and customer. I’ve teamed up with Allwyn and their parent company Sazka Group because they understand the importance of digital to lotteries. I can’t wait to get started.”
Allwyn’s UK bid chair, Sir Keith Mills, added: “For many years, Allwyn’s parent company Sazka Group has pursued a digital approach to lotteries across Europe. Not only has this produced impressive online sales growth, making their lotteries resilient to the challenges of the pandemic, but it has also translated to consistently strong sales growth in the retail sector too.”
“Allwyn’s sister companies are a testament to the powers of digital in the lottery world and I can’t wait to work with Dara and apply his knowledge of the digital and social media landscape,” Mills concluded.
In November, the operator confirmed the appointment of Sir Keith Mills, a successful entrepreneur who played a key role in London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as bid chair.
Affordability has been a widely debated topic in the industry over the past few years, first being mentioned back in the Gambling Commission’s 2018 Review of online gambling. But in recent months it has become one of the hottest topics in British gambling.
Since that first mention in 2018, the affordability conversation has developed into a main focus in the UK market, gaining attention from not only the regulator and industry but also media, politicians and the public.
Sonny Cott | by www.andynewbold.com
The Commission’s recent National Strategic Assessment stated it best when it said “individuals spending more than they can afford to lose is one of the harms most associated with gambling. Harm can be significant even at low spending levels as the level of spend at which harms begin to occur depends on the consumer’s discretionary income”.
A proposed solution to mitigate these harms would be to conduct affordability checks to ensure customers can afford their level of spend and apply appropriate customer interactions as a result of such checks.
This series will look to first set the regulatory context, before shedding light on the most important areas operators must consider when addressing affordability. The series will cover the benefits of automating affordability processes, the concept of a layered approach to affordability, the importance of non-intrusive affordability checks and how to develop affordability frameworks that deliver high levels of player protection while respecting the privacy and convenience of the customer.
The Gambling Commission When affordability was first mentioned by the GC in the 2018 Review of online gambling, it was in the context of customer due diligence.
The review stated that the Commission would consult on whether operators should have to set limits on customer spend, until an operator knew more about their customer. An affordability check was an example used for how an operator could do this.
The GC’s Enforcement Report for 2018-19 highlighted that its enforcement team had reviewed numerous cases where individuals demonstrated gambling-related harm but were allowed to continue to gamble without effective engagement.
“Disposable income data identifies clear benchmarks that should drive social responsibility triggers which will help identify gambling related harm,” the regulator said.
In this document, it made a key distinction: between ‘disposable income’ (income after tax) and ‘discretionary income’ (income after taxes and living costs). It said that spending a significant amount of one’s discretionary income on gambling would be considered harmful.
With the Covid-19 pandemic reaching the UK in early 2020, the Commission released its Additional formal guidance for remote operators during the Covid-19 outbreak, in which it instructed operators to conduct affordability assessments for individuals picked up by existing or new thresholds and triggers which indicate they are experiencing harm.
Operators should note that the regulator continues to advise that these two formal guidance notes remain enforceable. This means that these should be considered in advance of the outcome of the customer interaction consultation.
Outside pressure on affordability regulation The affordability conversation has not only been pushed forward by the regulator, as the government has taken a strong interest in gambling regulation as a whole.
This has contributed in part to greater public awareness of gambling regulation and, as a result, consultations on topics such as affordability and the long-awaited 2005 Gambling Act Review.
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Gambling Related Harm published its findings of an inquiry into online gambling harm which – along with a number of recommendations – advised affordability checks should inform deposit limits for customers.
The House of Lords Select Committee on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry released a report in July 2020. Their recommendations included the Commission having to explain the minimum steps which operators must take when considering customer affordability, and make it clear that it is for the operator to take steps which will enable them to identify customers who are betting more than they can afford.
The Social Market Foundation, the cross-party think-tank, published a report – “Gambling review and reform: towards a new regulatory framework” – authored by James Noyes that first put forward the proposal of a soft cap of £100 per month on net deposits. It argued £100 was a figure which is more than what the majority of gamblers spend and ensures gambling activities do not amount to serious financial harm.
The Remote Customer Interaction Consultation A culmination of the above factors, increased public interest and enforcement action taken by the Commission against operators for social responsibility failings including record fines, licence suspensions and revocations, resulted in the regulator launching a consultation to provide clarity on the affordability.
The remote customer interaction – Consultation and Call for Evidence recently closed on the 9th February 2021 and is set to determine at what threshold operators will be required to conduct affordability assessments, what an affordability assessment consists of and how operators will be expected to interact with their customers based on their affordability. The Gambling Commission’s enforcement action over the past few years against operators on social responsibility failings including failures in respect to assessing customer affordability shows that affordability checks are already an expectation of the regulator and this consultation is to formalise what is already being enforced.
Discretionary Income – the key metric In the recent Remote Customer Interaction Consultation and Call for Evidence the GC states that they consider“the most relevant way of assessing how much consumers may have to spend before beginning to experience harms as a result of their gambling is through discretionary income,” not disposable income. That is, income after both tax and spending on necessities such as food, travel and housing.
This means that a consumer with high living costs may be able to afford to spend much less on gambling than a similar earner with less to spend on essentials.
If customers were to fund their gambling by using funds that are needed to support necessities, this would be unsustainable and have the potential to cause gambling-related harm as the customer’s quality of life would no doubt be affected.
In addition, the Gambing Commission also states that it would not be expected that anyone could spend their entire discretionary income without experiencing gambling-related harm.
Discretionary income therefore lies at the heart of the affordability conversation. The challenge for operators is how to assess a customer’s affordability and their discretionary income in an ongoing way throughout the relationship with a customer, balancing both the need to protect the customer, the customer’s privacy and the customer’s own free will.
Having developed a solution over the past three years and worked closely with operators, we’ve seen those that adopt a layered approach to affordability greatly strengthen their responsible gaming frameworks and apply appropriate affordability assessments at different stages in the customer journey.
This layered approach consists of both tailored affordability checks and interactions based on the profile of the customer and how much they are wanting to spend.
In the second part of this series, we will examine this approach in more detail.
Under the agreement, Betclic will make available Sports IQ’s US sports-focused technology to new and existing customers across Europe.
Sports IQ will integrate directly with Betclic to power a suite of betting options across all major US sports.
“Partnering with Sports IQ and its innovative solutions will help us offer an unrivalled range of odds and services in our core markets,” Betclic’s head of sports betting Martin Houdbine said.
“With a growing interest in US Sports within Europe, we think this strategic deal can really make a difference towards our ambition of being the no.1 sportsbook operator everywhere we operate.”
Sports IQ chief executive Omer Dor added: “Betclic is one of the most-respected operators in Europe and is well known for offering innovative products to its customers. As our industry moves forward into this new era of fan entertainment, we are delighted to enhance Betclic’s offering with Sports IQ’s product coverage.”
