EMIRAT AG: Supporting Trust in lotteries for 15 years

The world has changed a lot since 2004, when Netflix still posted DVDs, the iPhone wasn’t invented and EuroMillions had just made its lotto debut. As EMIRAT AG, the world’s leading risk management specialist in covering lottery jackpots, marks its 15th anniversary, the company reflects on how lotteries have evolved, the need to differentiate across diverse regions, and why Trust will always be the name of the jackpot insurance game…

Founded in 2004 in Munich, Germany, EMIRAT AG’s core business focused on covering a large number of prize and redemption risks from hole in ones, right up to big consumer marketing campaigns. Frank Herold, EMIRAT AG’s Business Development Manager explains how the company’s journey and corporate DNA has evolved since its inception. “We always see ourselves as part of the team with our clients,” he explained. “So you need a lot of experience and passion for the job to set up tailor-made insurances. That’s how you exceed the needs of every individual client in long term relationships.

“We have had so many highlights, many of which were unexpected at the beginning. For me it is an absolute highlight being part of a successful growth story together with our clients. Some of these clients have been with us from our first days offering lottery jackpot insurance. Obviously it’s not always about the highs but you need to have patience at the beginning of a lottery project as legal requirements and payment procedures need a lot of management attention. So setting up a proper business plan is crucial.”

2018 saw EMIRAT AG enter a strategic partnership with RNG Worldwide, the internationally recognised random number generator, a collaboration which has increased EMIRAT AG’s insurance options through a fully certified API solution as well as enhancing transparency for the industry. “Our partnership with RNG Worldwide is a perfect fit,” stated Herold. “In the gaming and lottery business everything is about Trust with a capital T. So, in this case, our clients get a state-of-the-art product with maximum flexibility and transparency for individual live draws. We have a really strong customer focus. So that’s the reason why we continue to be recommended by our existing clients and the lottery and gaming board authorities as well.

“Looking forward, we definitely have new and exciting partnerships on the horizon in the future and we look forward to talking about these as soon as we are allowed to announce them.”

EMIRAT AG continues to provide financial security for lotteries all over the world working with recognized leading specialists and removing the financial risk of jackpot winners, covering in excess of 100 billion Euros in 2015 alone. Commenting on the company’s ongoing ability to innovate in the field of protecting prize and redemption risks, Herold said: “As lottery continues to progress we believe that every one of our clients and operators will have more and more individual needs. So we will not have just one successful lottery project. We will deliver many different ones that cannot simply be copied.”

“If you look into different countries of the world, lottery business isn’t far behind land-based machines as it is now also on the mobile market too,” he continued. “Through our partnership with RNG worldwide we can offer state of the art technology including insurance products. All of this comes together into how we support Trust in this industry.”

The company, which covers some of the world’s most well known global jackpots such as Euro Millions, Powerball and the UK National Lottery, has been recognised over the last 15 years for its ability to tailor covered jackpots and consumer marketing campaigns to a wide variety of customers in many diverse regions. Commenting on their strategic growth within Europe and beyond, Herold said: “As I’ve mentioned before, you need a lot of experience to enter a new market successfully. Our team comes from different parts of the world and know about the very precise needs across all these specific markets. In addition we’re very interested in market requirements that will change in the future, such as with the legal side of the industry.”

He concluded: “With potential changes occurring in European and international lotteries and the implementation of a new regulations, we continue to look into these changes very carefully as that’s one of the most important issues for our clients. On the other side you need to differentiate. The requirements are different from country to country and from region to region and as a company we look forward to continue being different and creating Trust for another 15 years and more!”