Month: December 2021

EGBA cited the findings of a City, University of London (CUL) study which reviewed specific aspects of the consumer protection rules in EU member states, including knowing customer requirements, the protection of minors, safer gambling, and treatment support.

The study found that although most member states use similar approaches when it comes to consumer protection, there is significant variation when it comes to implementing rules.

One example given showed that 16 member states have established a national self-exclusion register for online gambling – such as the Cruks system in the Netherlands – yet the way players are added to such registers varies dramatically, as does the duration of their self-exclusion.

Furthermore, not all member states have rules which prohibit gambling advertising being sent to those who are self-excluded.

EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer has suggested that a standardised framework across member states would help iron out such issues.

“A more standardised regulatory framework would surely benefit all,” he said. “While regulations and enforcement are extremely important, the study also highlights that more could be done to strengthen prevention measures and ensure that those who are affected by harm are signposted to relevant helplines and treatment centres.

“We welcome the progress made in strengthening the consumer protection rules in EU member states. In several areas, regulatory principles are converging, but there is increasing fragmentation in how the rules are implemented and this creates a complicated compliance and enforcement map for Europe’s gambling regulators and operators, while evidently also not benefiting the consumer.”

EGBA has previously advocated for the use of a standardised framework for member states with regards to tackling money laundering in the industry.

EGBA’s inaugural sustainability report, published in July, showed that its members’ customers are using safer gambling tools more frequently than they did in 2020.

Mikael is the CEO of Astropay, a pioneer in payment solutions for consumers who want to make online purchases on international sites. Leveraging his background in engineering and experience in providing cross-border payments as well as connecting global merchants to emerging markets, Mikael combines a unique blend of technical expertise and practical experience to drive innovation and solutions in payments. Before being named CEO in November 2019, Mikael was Astropay’s COO

With a track record of providing innovative payment solutions in emerging markets, this year Astropay embarked on its most eye-catching expansion project in its 12-year history by launching in three European countries.

Such a move requires a bold vision in an uncertain world, and Astropay CEO Mikael Lijtenstein is the first to admit that the business’ initial launches in the UK, Spain and Portugal will be “challenging, as we know Europe is a huge and competitive market”.

However, he is also convinced the time is right for the payment services provider to step up its ambitions on a global scale.

Stepping up
Astropay already has more than 3.5 million users and provides more than 200 digital payment methods globally. Lijtenstein believes though that the move into Europe can offer a launchpad to take the business to the next level.

“We know there are competitors,” he admits. “However, there is always space for a new one. We want to target people who are looking for different payment methods, and our experience in emerging markets will be crucial in terms of learning about the users and their needs.”

A financial cloud has hung over industries and livelihoods since the pandemic struck in early 2020 – and with inflation rising sharply across swathes of the West in the closing months of 2021, there is little sign of the turbulence dying down any time soon.

However, beneath the storm, there is clear evidence that major markets are increasingly ready to embrace the types of online payment solutions and digital wallets that the likes of Astropay can offer, according to Lijtenstein.

“The world is going cashless and transitioning to digital wallets, and we are at the forefront of that adoption,” he says.

“We began life in Latin America and then expanded into Asia, and we have grown significantly in Africa since launching there in the middle of the pandemic.

“It is a great time to launch in Europe. The company has grown substantially and we now have more than 170 talented members of staff who have brought their global experience and knowledge into the business.”

Changing behaviours
Well-documented behavioural changes appear to back up Lijtenstein’s claim that the moment has come to explore new horizons.

According to a June 2021 report by UK Finance, use of cash in the country fell by 35% year-on-year in 2020, while nearly a third of the adult population registered for mobile payments – a 75% rise on the 2019 sign-ups.

Fears over transmitting the coronavirus will have been a key driver, but so too will the convenience factor. For example, Amazon’s announcement that it will no longer allow Visa credit card payments from January 2022 is widely expected to add even more weight to the argument for digital wallets.

“Millennials are among our early adopters, and they are naturally looking for different payment technologies and solutions that fit into their lifestyles,” says Lijtenstein.

“We are working very hard on optimising the payment journey to enhance the user experience. Of course, we are aware of the potential for regulatory and compliance challenges as we expand, but customer expectations are going to be incredibly important, so we are focusing on understanding users in new markets.

“We have always ensured that we have been able to learn as much as possible about customers and their behaviours on the ground in the emerging markets in which we are established. We always want to understand what they like and don’t like, and we want to move quickly to deliver the best products to every user in each country and region.”

Communication
Astropay will continue to collect feedback through interviews, surveys and focus groups with users, with Lijtenstein stressing the importance of “communicating with customers and being empathetic”.

He adds: “Every day, we are working to increase trust in our innovative solutions.”

Although there are clear differences between the markets in which Astropay operates and, as Lijtenstein says, “communicating with someone in Brazil is very different to someone in Europe”, the business has dedicated teams working in native languages to help negotiate such challenges.

Furthermore, while Astropay was determined to launch in the UK, given its market size and increasing adoption of cashless payment technology, opting for Spain and Portugal was more of a cultural fit, considering the business’ experience in Latin America.

“These three countries in Europe are the next step for us, but we want to expand across Europe and the world. We want to be seen everywhere,” Lijtenstein adds.

In an effort to drive interest in the UK, sponsorship deals have been forged with English Premier League football clubs like Newcastle United, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers. In October 2021, Astropay also bolstered brand awareness in the Indian subcontinent by sealing a commercial partnership with Sri Lanka Cricket for the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman.

“We are trying to reach more people than ever before, so it makes sense for our branding to be visible all over the world,” Lijtenstein says.

“We want to be seen as a global company and over the next 12 to 18 months we will continue with our expansion plans across Europe, Asia and Africa. We have a motivated team and we are always exploring new ideas to improve our solutions and the customer experience.”

The report, presented to the Dutch parliament by Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker, included included data on the number of visits to gambling websites recorded in the Netherlands from 1 October, when the country’s igaming market opened.

Just ahead of this date, the Dutch government changed its stance towards operators passively accepting bets from Dutch players, without offering their services in the local language or providing local payment services. This saw a host of high-profile operators fail to secure licences for the launch of igaming, including Entain, Kindred Group, 888, Betsson, Leovegas and Casumo.

The report looked at traffic to gaming websites, which it split into three groups: the 10 initial licensees in the Dutch market, a number of websites that opted to block Dutch customers when the market opened, and a number of other unlicensed websites that failed to block access.

On 1 October, traffic to those that blocked Dutch customers plummeted, but did not disappear entirely, Dekker explained.

The customers of these sites did not appear to switch to the other unlicensed operators, the sites that did not block Dutch players also declined slightly. The licensees were the main beneficiaries, with their traffic soaring from 1 October.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean there are more players, or that more money is being spent than before,” Dekker added, however.

The figures cited by Entain and Kindred in the wake of cutting access to Dutch players, he added, had also prompted H2 Gambling Capital to revise its estimates for the size of the Netherlands’ igaming market upwards. Kindred said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) would be cut by £12m per month as a result of its withdrawal, while Entain said its earnings would be reduced by £5m per month.

The report noted that 33 licence applications had been submitted as of 1 November, of which a number were still pending. There is likely to be an influx of new submissions once the cooling-off periods for operators that took bets from Dutch customers before the Remote Gaming Act came into force can apply, it added.

Early signs suggested that customers were also using the country’s self-exclusion system Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen (Cruks). As of 1 November, around 3,500 people had registered.

There were 288 calls to problem gambling support service Loket Kanspel, with callers referred to professional treatment providers in two instances.

Dutch regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) is continuing to take action against unlicensed operators. Last month, it selected 25 gambling websites to monitor to determine if they were blocking Dutch customers. 

The regulator also granted its 11th online gambling licence last month, to JOI Gaming, a division of Dutch land-based casino operator JVH Gaming & Entertainment Group. It joins Bet365, UK-based bingo operator Tombola, which has since been acquired by Flutter, Play North, land-based operator Holland Casino and state lottery Nederlandse Loterij with its Toto Online brand.

The Janshen Hahnraths Group with FPO Nederland, Italy-based Betent, Belgian brand Bingoal, NSUS Malta, which runs the GGPoker.eu brand and sports media and betting business LiveScore Malta also secured licences in the initial wave.

The bill, which was filed in September, contains proposed amendments to Finland’s Lotteries Act, including a stipulation to block payments from operators, other than Veikkaus, who advertise directly in the Finnish market.

As the monopoly holder state-owned Veikkaus is the sole company licensed to offer gambling in the country.

If passed, payments service providers will be required to block payments to and from operators from 1 January 2023. However, the committee took significant issue with this tenet of legislation.

It argued that this would constitute a “a far-reaching restriction of fundamental rights”, something it said could not be justified on the basis that it would prevent and limit gambling harms.

Payment blocking, it said, may violate Article 15 of the Constitution of Finland, which dictates property protection, and Article 18, which details the freedom to conduct a business.

Winnings and funds deposited into a gaming account automatically fall under property protections measures, while blocking legally obtained winnings infringes on the rights of business to trade and individuals to receive won assets, said the Committee.

The Committee instead asked the government to consider whether the aims of the bill could be achieved by “less intrusive means”.

The remaining amendments include mandatory identification for all forms of gambling, and new penalties for marketing. This states that gambling promotions must be moderate, and not glorify gambling, make it appear to be an everyday past-time or present it as a means to improve an individual’s financial situation.

The Committee queried the language around marketing. While it said that far-reaching restrictions on advertising could be imposed, citing restrictions on the marketing of alcohol, it questioned the tenet that would allow the authorities to impose financial penalties.

It took issue with the fact this was effectively equated with a criminal penalty, rather than an administrative fine, and warned that more clarify was required on the grounds for handing down such penalties, and as to how the amount would be calculated.

The new sanctions structure for marketing, if passed, is expected to come into force from 2022.

The business did not reveal the identities of the investors but did confirm that the round featured a number of leading sports media and online gaming investors, as well as seven returning investors.

The Game Day said it will use the capital to support its growth strategy, including commissioning additional talent, introducing new content formats, driving increased conversions and pursuing opportunities for monetization via new revenue streams.

Founded remotely in 2020, The Game Day now employs more than 50 staff at its New York office and has amassed more than four million network followers, averaging more than 150 million monthly impressions.

The business also recently expanded into the online casino space through the launch of its new TheGameDayCasino.com service.

“The Game Day has seen tremendous growth this past year and we are thrilled to continue to charge forward and drive our business to the next level,” The Game Day co-founder and chief executive Matt Heiman said.

“This funding and the support of our investors will allow us to increase our scale and engagement and will unlock additional opportunities for monetization and audience conversion through our affiliate partnerships with major sportsbook operators, our content, and our commitment to drive innovation in the sports media space.

“With the rise of legalized sports betting now piquing the interest of a swathe of market-leading investors, and the sports gambling industry’s desire to invest in sports betting content properties, The Game Day finds itself ideally positioned between the sports media and online gambling spaces to deliver meaningful audience scale at a particularly crucial time in the industry’s life cycle.”

In 2018 we launched the iGB Most Influential Women list to celebrate the highest achieving women in our industry. Now in its fourth year, the survey has gone from strength to strength and attracts hundreds of nominations from across the industry. This is the third part of a three-part series online. To read more about how the list was compiled and why it was especially necessary this year, see Most Influential Women 2021: Part 1 and Part 2.

Maarja Pärt
CEO, Yolo Group

It’s remarkable enough for a woman to stand out in one male-dominated industry, but the fact that she does it in three – gaming, cryptocurrency and fintech – shows just how accomplished Maarja Pärt is.

The Yolo Group CEO has made a career out of being bold and ambitious, anchored by a stoic refusal to compromise her beliefs. This has seen her go from a small team of six people in 2010 to a gaming industry CEO just over a decade later.

“I have always challenged the status quo to keep pushing the boundaries, but more importantly I’ve stayed true to my principles and beliefs. Today, this business with nearly 700 employees and countless projects is vastly different from what it was a decade ago, but the core principles have stayed the same. I never want to compromise on that — this mindset has been and always will be central to everything I do.”

After working hard to pave a way to the top – during a global pandemic no less – Pärt is working hard to create a diverse environment where employees have equal opportunities.

Having a strong network of women to work alongside, such as Yolo COO Anita Brinke, interim COO ​​Katrin Puusepp and CEO of B2B arm Yolo Ventures Christine Lewis, provides the inspiration to keep working harder.

“Being able to lean on other women facing similar challenges makes us all more understanding and empathetic, and creates a happier, healthier environment, too. However, it’s all about creating a strong team and diversity in any team certainly contributes to that strength,” she says.

The industry would do well to follow the example set by Pärt at Yolo to make it easier for women to climb the ranks. A concerted effort to assemble the best and brightest, regardless of background, has created a more diverse workforce.

“As we’re so focused on assembling a team of the very best, we’ve had to draw on people from different backgrounds. Diversity brings its own reward because we now have a team full of individuals who bring their own unique perspectives to our daily challenges.”

Birgitte Sand
CEO, Birgitte Sand & Associates

Birgitte Sand established the blueprint for sustainable igaming regulation during her time as head of the Danish Gambling Authority, built on a dialogue and cooperation between the regulator and industry that had been lacking in earlier regulated markets such as France and Italy.

Since stepping down in early 2020, she has championed this approach “by sharing her experience with regulators and policy makers around the world, and pushing diversity and sustainable gambling through her board appointments”, observed one of this year’s judging panel.

“I hope the award will serve as a strong message to other women that you can create an influential and satisfying career even though we still have fewer women than men in significant positions,” she says.

Sand adds that she has “a very diverse view” on what constitutes an influential position in today’s sector. “I would like to encourage other women to decide their own best path to influence and exciting careers, instead of perhaps just going with the flow and missing out on great opportunities.”

As for the secrets behind her success, she puts some of this down to her positive outlook and standing by her values. Most of all however, it’s about being “passionate about the people and projects I believe in and being happy to go an extra mile if that gets us closer to the stars!”

Preconceptions of people and an adherence to doing things the traditional way have been among the barriers Sand has had to challenge and break down along the way: “I have always believed that diversity is a gift and some of my greatest moments during my career has been when being part of diverse teams and experiencing the higher level of innovation and mutual inspiration that brings.”

In terms of the work the industry still needs to do in order to create a workplace environment that supports the development and progress of women and other under-represented groups into more senior positions, Sand says: “I am of course stating the obvious – that women should be heavily involved in defining what it takes to attract and inspire other women.

“And it should be carefully considered that ‘climbing the ranks’ needs to mirror the reality of life in 2021 and be suited to both under-represented groups and the many different ways of work/life balance that we see developing.”

Lindsay Slader
Managing director – Gaming, Geocomply

The continued expansion of online sports betting across the US has become one of the key stories in the sector in recent years.

But as any operator active in the country will explain, it acts less like one jurisdiction and more like a group of markets, with each state creating its own regulatory and compliance structure.

As operators have to ensure their product is compliant in every state, Geocomply – led by managing director Lindsay Slader – has become the pre-eminent geolocation-based compliance provider, tasked with ensuring players can only access products designed for the state in which they are present.

As one nomination for Slader explained, her role requires expertise across a number of different fields.

“With her extensive experience and background specializing in regulatory compliance and government relations for igaming and geolocation technologies, she’s a truly recognized expert in her field,” the nomination said. “Applying her comprehensive knowledge and experience as well as the relationships she has built within the many different sectors of the industry, from operators and regulators to lawmakers, Lindsay ensures that GecComply continually meets the ever-changing needs of this industry.

“Lindsay works closely with regulators, lawmakers, gaming operators and many others in the industry to educate them about the benefits and uses of true location data in both on-premise and online gaming.”

Few businesses dominate a sector in the way Geocomply has done under Slader’s leadership, with the supplier holding close to a 100% market share in the US. Going forward, she is also leading the supplier’s expansion into new markets, including Canada, Latin America and Europe, while potential new market launches in the US – including New York and California – could continue to boost Geocomply’s value to operators.

That value has been recognised in the world of private equity, as in March Geocomply announced that private equity businesses Blackstone Growth (Blackstone) and Atairos would each invest in the business. While the exact size of the investments were not disclosed, it said that the deals made Geocomply a billion-dollar “unicorn” business, with one nomination noting that Slader was “unequivocally instrumental” in securing that funding.

As both Geocomply and the US igaming sector continue to grow, Slader’s cross-cutting expertise has made her the driving force behind a business that dominates its space like few others.

Ones to watch

Pallavi Deshmukh, CEO, NetgamingAiste Garneviciene, COO, BetgamesMartina Mlcochova, head of live casino, KindredJennifer Roberts, general counsel, Wynn Interactive and WynnBetCristina Turbatu, CTO, BeyondPlay

The judges

Ewa Bakun is director of industry insight and engagement at Clarion Gaming. She is in charge of key industry relationships and market intelligence to identify industry trends and ensure the editorial integrity of the educational content presented through Clarion’s brands. Ewa has been tracking industry developments since 2009 and has seen the rise (and sometimes fall) of trends, brands and people, a testament to the pace with which the industry evolves.

Britt Boeskov is the chief experience officer at Kindred group, driving customer centricity to the heart of the global operator’s growth and strategy. She has previously held various executive roles across product, channel and delivery at Kindred. Britt also serves on the board of Racecourse Media Group.

Andrew Bulloss is a partner at search firm Odgers Berndtson and has been placing directors, senior executives, C-level and non-executive directors in the gaming and gambling industries for a decade. Prior to joining Odgers, he spent eight years leading recruitment in the technology/online, consumer goods and financial services industries in the UK and Europe.

Stephen Carter joined iGB in 2014 and oversees the editorial direction and output of the iGB, iGB Affiliate, iGB North America and ICE 365 brands. He has worked for a number of B2B publications and affiliate portals since he started covering the sector in 2007, including eGR.

Richard Schuetz is the owner of Schuetz LLC, a gaming and regulatory consulting entity. He has worked in the casino industry for close to 50 years and his previous roles include executive director of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission, commissioner of the California Gambling Control Commission and president and CEO of the Stratosphere Tower Hotel and Casino.

Helen Walton is founder and CCO of G Games. She started her career at Unilever and has worked with Boots, Frucor, Tate Britain, PZ Cussons and dozens of other brands. She describes herself as a dealmaker, writer and marketer who enjoys solving problems, trying out ideas and making things happen.

Christie Eickelman is vice president of global marketing at Gaming Laboratories International, directing and implementing all marketing programmes for the company’s worldwide locations. She has been blazing a trail for women to follow in the gaming industry since 1992, having begun her career at Sodak Gaming before moving to Wolf Gaming, then to GLI in 1999, where she has progressed through the company. Giving back to her community is a passion for Eickelman and she is president of the Global Gaming Women board of directors.

Anika Howard is VP of brand marketing and digital at Foxwoods Resort Casino, where she leads advertising, PR, online marketing, sponsorships/partnerships, web development and social media, as well as Foxwoods social casino and the expansion of sports betting and online gaming. Prior to Foxwoods, Anika was a senior leader at IGT. She was one of iGB’s Most Influential Women for 2020.

Profiles by Nosa Omoigui, Daniel O’Boyle and Stephen Carter

Player spending was 37.1% higher than the $8.9m staked in October of last year and 54.4% more than $7.9m in September this year.

The October total was the first time handle reached an eight-figure sum since $11.7m was wagered in January this year, and the highest monthly amount since $13.6m in December 2019.

However, revenue fell 20.0% from $1.5m in October of 2020 to $1.2m, with this amount also 14.3% lower than $1.4m reported in September this year.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Colossus Bets holds seven US patents related to a cashout product, all referring to a “full or partial buy-out offer made at any time prior to completion of a wagering event”.

Colossus Bets said it first notified DraftKings of these patents in early 2018, the year DraftKings first launched a cashout product, “and has since provided numerous notices of ongoing infringement”.

“We attempted to resolve this amicably and we gave them ample opportunity to do so,” ColossusBets co-founder Bernard Marantelli – listed as the inventor in all of the relevant patents – said. 

The business added that, because of this, it would seek increased damages “for willful and deliberate infringement”.

“Given the scope of Colossus’ patent portfolio, this will have implications for the entire gaming industry and multi-billion US market,” ColossusBets said.

The business had previously filed a similar patent lawsuit also related to cashout features against Australia’s Tabcorp. It also holds patent licences with Bet365 and Esports Technologies, allowing these businesses to use the patented technology.

“We take our intellectual property very seriously. This is the next step towards protecting our rights and income across the industry in the US,” Marantelli said.

Earlier this year, esports betting technology provider Engine Media Holdings filed its own patent infringement lawsuit against DraftKings, related to patents that concerned integration between skill gaming and live events.

A review of the business’ activities, launched in December 2020, uncovered failings in the anti-money laundering (AML) policies and safer gambling protocols across Greentube’s Admiralcasino.co.uk and Bellfruitcasino.com sites.

This amounted to breaches of licence condition 12.1.1, 12.1.2, 15.2.1 of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), and provision 3.4.1 of the Social Responsibility Code.

The condition 12.1.1 breaches related to Greentube Alderney’s AML processes, with the review finding deficiencies in its record keeping and evaluation of the assessments it put in place. 

The Commission noted that the business also failed to make provision for monitoring money laundering risks out of hours, and relied heavily on slots being a lower risk product from an AML perspective. 

There was also an over-reliance on open source data for source of funds checks and “unacceptable” delays to confirming customers owned the payment solutions they used. 

The 12.1.2 breach related to a politically exposed person (PEP), who was able to gamble up to a £1,000 deposit limit before source of wealth checks were carried out. It failed to prepare AML assessments based on Gambling Commission guidance, lacking information on how much a customer should be allowed to spend based on income, wealth or any other money laundering risk factors.

Suspicious activity reports, to inform authorities of potentially illegal activity, were not submitted to the Commission within five days of being raised with the National Crime Agency, resulting in a breach of condition 15.2.1.

Finally, the business breached provision 3.4.1 of the Social Responsibility Code by relying heavily on its £1,000 30-day net loss threshold to identify signs of problematic gambling. Other markers of harm failed to take into account factors such as the length, frequency and time of day individuals gambled. 

The onus was put on the customer to set proactive limits, rather than interactions or affordability assessments, while average income data was used to set deposit limits. These, on occasion, were too high and reliant on open source information, the regulator said. 

This resulted in Greentube Alderney agreeing to pay £685,000 in lieu of a financial penalty, to be used to fund the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms. It will also pay the Gambling Commission’s investigation costs of £8,789.86.

A specific condition has also been added to Greentube’s operating licence, which requires the business to carry out a third-party audit to review its compliance with the LCCP. This must be undertaken within 12 months, and the results shared with the regulator.

“Compliance with Commission rules aimed at keeping people safe and gambling crime-free is not optional,” Gambling Commission executive director Helen Venn said. 

“We will always take firm action against those operators who fail to meet the high standards we expect for consumers in Britain.”

Carrion previously held the roles of CMO and marketing director at Pokerstars, as well as other positions at The Stars Group and roles at Blackstone-owned Cirsa.

In his new role Carrion will lead Gaming1’s efforts to align its technology, business and marketing departments.

“I’m proud to have been trusted as COO interactive for one of the industry’s most exciting and ambitious brands,” said Carrion. “During my time here, the company has excelled in every area and continues to see rapid growth.”

“We have bold aspirations for the future, our goal for the Gaming1 interactive business line is to outperform market growth, we are set to double our revenues within the next five years. We aim to do this based on scalability and by delivering real quality to the player.”

Gaming1 introduced mandatory responsible gambling training for all employees at the beginning of the year.

In May, Ricardo Viana was named the company’s chief creative officer after serving as creative director for Play’n Go.

“Everyone at Gaming1 is delighted to have David take on more responsibilities as the company’s new COO for Interactive,” said Sylvain Boniver, co-founder of Gaming1.

“During his time as CMO, David showed his quality and experience in delivering impressive growth strategies. We are confident that in his new role, David will excel and continue being a tremendous and valuable asset to the company and its partners.”