Exclusive Q&A w/ Martyn Hannah, Managing Director at Comparasino

The UK has been short of new launches of late but in recent weeks, two brands have made their debut in the highly competitive market. First up was online casino, Winlandia, with online casino comparison site Comparasino hot on its heels. This could mark a turning point for the UK market, with businesses confident in its future now that the white paper has been published and its contents – and the impact it will have – better understood.

To learn more about Comparasino, how it plans to change the game when it comes to how players find online casinos and bonuses, and why the team behind the site chose the UK for launch, we sat down with founder and managing director, Martyn Hannah.

There are plenty of online casino comparison sites targeting the UK market and essentially offering players the same thing. What makes Comparasino different?

You’re right, this is a highly competitive space but one in need of a shake-up. Comparasino is the first online casino comparison site that puts the power in the hands of players and helps them discover online casinos and bonuses that meet their exact requirements. That’s not all – those that create a Comparasino account never need to search for new online casinos ever again. Their list of matching brands is stored in a dedicated portal where we automatically add brands that meet their requirements as soon as they are uploaded to the site. With Comparasino, players no longer need to spend time searching the internet and bouncing between comparison sites to find new casinos and the latest bonuses. This is why we have adopted the motto “less searching, more playing”.

One of your USPs is that you match players with casinos based on their preferences. Why is this important and how does it help players?

Players know exactly what they’re looking for in an online casino or bonus offer, but they often have to go through the process of signing up for a brand, making a deposit and playing before they know if it hits the mark or not. This is not helped by other casino comparison sites that list partner brands on high-traffic pages simply for the commercial benefit and not for the benefit of the player – I have seen established brands that have been around for 20 years appear on pages for new online casinos and casinos that take five-plus days to process withdrawals listed on pages for fast payout sites.

Players are savvy and know that these brands are not new – even if the justification for it being on the page is that it could be “new to them”. They are also highly likely to leave a brand if they were under the impression that it offered fast withdrawals only to learn that it doesn’t when they come to make their first withdrawal. At Comparasino, we believe players deserve better and that it’s important to match them only with brands that meet their preferences or, as we like to say, that hit their jackpot.

How else does Comparasino add value to players and ultimately help them find online casinos and bonuses?

We take the hard work out of finding online casinos and bonuses. You just have to look at the monthly search volumes to see that players are hungry for new brands and bonuses and that many spend a great deal of time trawling comparison sites in search of somewhere to play. This could be time spent playing their favourite slots and casino games. By creating a Comparasino member account, players can keep playing knowing that as soon as a new brand launches that meets their requirements, it will appear in their dedicated portal. On our side, that means working hard to onboard brands at scale and at pace, and we are open to working with all operators that hold a UK Gambling Commission licence and that meet our partner criteria.

As a new brand in the online casino comparison space, how do you engage players and, perhaps more importantly, how do you build trust?

We need to make them aware of Comparasino and how we help players find the best online casinos for them. To do this, we will be deploying a comprehensive branding and marketing strategy that starts now but will ramp up from January 2024. When it comes to trust, we make clear that we are on the side of the player and that we do not push certain brands over others, nor tell them where to play. Players are smart enough to know that affiliates earn money when they sign up and play at a brand listed on their site, so a “review” of that brand is always going to be biased. That’s why we produce a listing for each casino so that players can find accurate information about the brand without constantly being told it’s the best even though it might not offer what they’re looking for.

Of course, it goes without saying that we only work with online casinos that hold an active licence from the Gambling Commission and have responsible gambling messaging across the site as well as a dedicated Safe Gaming Hub. This, combined with the fact that Comparasino is run by a team based in the UK and the trust-building channels through which we will market to players, will all stand as strong signals to consumers that Comparasino is professional and reputable.

Of all the markets you could debut Comparasino, why the UK?

Because it’s our home market. To be able to deliver the products and experiences that consumers are seeking, you need to have a deep understanding of the market, its culture and consumer expectations. While there are plenty of online casino comparison sites out there, the vast majority are run by companies based in other countries and this leads to a bit of a disconnect, certainly when it comes to important things like brand values and tone of voice. The UK is also a large and relatively stable market with plenty of opportunities for a challenger brand to come in and disrupt the status quo. The timing is good, too. There’s been a dearth of new businesses entering the UK market – both operators and affiliates – due to the uncertainty around the white paper, but with that published and digested, momentum is building and Comparasino is helping to spearhead this revival alongside casino brands such as Winlandia which hit the market a few weeks ago.

What are your thoughts on where the UK online casino market is at and where it is heading?

I think it has a strong future for sure. This is one of the most established online gambling markets in the world with a respected regulator and a deep commitment from the vast majority of industry stakeholders to keep improving when it comes to safe gaming and responsible gambling. That said, a balance needs to be struck between protecting consumers and ensuring a viable market for operators, suppliers and of course affiliates such as Comparasino. I am confident this will be achieved through the white paper and the various consolations that are taking place around it, and that the UK will continue to set the standard for others to follow as a safe, sustainable and thriving market.