Industry News
Covid-19 – A message from UKGC chair, Neil McArthur to online gambling operators
Since I wrote to you last week, the response to Covid-19 has affected everyone in Great Britain.
Over the last week, I have spoken to representatives across the industry and understand the significant impact that these uncertain and unsettling events are having on your businesses, your customers and your employees. We have been drawing up an initial assessment on the impact recent events will have on the gambling industry and assessing how we should approach our own work over the coming months.
Protecting children and vulnerable people from being harmed by gambling has always been a major priority and we are very mindful – as you should be – of the fact that the risks of harm arising from online gambling have increased as a result of recent events. As you know, the social distancing measures that have been imposed this week now mean that anyone other than key workers will be at home for most of the day. We are already seeing reports of an increase in online slots, poker, casino gaming and virtual sports.
In light of these developments, whilst I recognise the enormous challenges businesses are facing, I want to make the Commission’s expectations absolutely clear:
- Consumer protection must be paramount
- We expect you to act responsibly, especially around individual customer affordability checks and increased social responsibility interactions.
- We expect you to be very mindful that customers may be vulnerable and experiencing financial uncertainty, whilst others may be experiencing other effects of being isolated including, for example, feelings of anxiety, loneliness or boredom.
- We expect you to know your customers and step in if they are showing signs that they are experiencing or at risk of harm.
- Marketing must be conducted responsibly
- We expect you to on-board new customers in a socially responsible way.
- You must not exploit the current situation for marketing purposes and should be very cautious when seeking to cross-sell online gaming products to customers who signed up with you in order to bet.
- We expect you to ensure that your affiliates are conducting themselves appropriately.
- Compliance with licence conditions and codes of practice
- We expect you to act in a way that minimises the risks to the licensing objectives.
- Treat consumers fairly and communicate with them in a clear way that allows them to make a properly informed judgment about whether to gamble.
- Work with the Commission in an open and co-operative way and act in accordance with both the letter or the spirit of the regulatory framework we have set.
If we see irresponsible behaviour we will step in immediately. So, whilst I know that the current climate is unprecedented, gambling operators must play their part in making sure that people are kept safe.
If you want to share your own analysis of impacts to the industry, or share other information that may be relevant to our work on this issue, you can talk to Ben Haden, Programme Director for Industry Insight, who is collating all of the information about how Covid-19 is affecting the industry.
If you have information or concerns about the behaviour of an operator then our Confidential Intelligence Hotline is continuing to take calls or you can email the team. Finally, you can continue to contact your Account Manager in the normal way to notify of any key events or questions you have during this time. If you have other questions or queries, please let us know and we will do our best to get you an answer.
Yours sincerely,
Neil McArthur
More innovation and customised content are needed to succeed
Casino.se sat down with Play’n GO Head of Sales Magnus Olsson to discuss his predictions for the 2020 casino industry.
2019 was a success story for Play’n GO, highlighting the popular Tome of Madness slot game as one of their many big hits. Still Olsson also drew attention to the company’s music-based titles like Testament which have been extremely well received.
And while the software provider continues to grow its portfolio of popular games with innovative adventure-themed titles like Shield of Athena, Play’n GO have set their sights on ensuring their unique brand of exciting games will be found in all regulated markets.
Olsson is convinced that the formula for success is to focus on a better gaming experience at all time and he suggests casinos to concentrate their efforts on doing the same. Olsson pointed to operators who have been able to use “some sort of AI (artificial intelligence) on the front end” to show “different games to different audiences and tailoring their offering towards various demographics.”
There’s a lot to look forward to, yet more that can be done, when it comes to creating new games. From gamification to 3D, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, Olsson called on the industry to help push the development needed to bring the technology to wider audiences saying, “we would love to show what we can do!”
Click here to read the full interview and learn more about the future of online gambling according to Play’n Go.
Triple Cherry, the Spanish game developer company, is pleased to announce the launch of its video slots at BigBola and BetMotion online casinos.
Both casinos will offer its players the most complete selection of games with the highest levels of quality, all these with a wide diversity of themes so the player will have a variety to choose from.
Triple Cherry’s amazing titles include Saint Fermin, Elsa’s Bierhaus, Red Queen in Wonderland, Mega Chef, Mystic Buffalo, God’s Odyssey Carnaval do Rio… and many more that you can see at www.3cherry.com
These two relevant casinos: BigBola (www.onlinebigbola.mx), in Mexico and BetMotion (www.betmotion.com), in Brazil are two great market opportunities for Triple Cherry, which wants to expand its presence in the Latin American market.
Juan Antonio Galindo, CEO of Triple Cherry , said: “ We are very happy that these two great casinos liked our product. We really believe that its customers will have a pleasant game experience with our online slots ”.
Online Casino and Sportsbook Betzest™ announced a new partnership with leading payment provider Interac offering instant, safe transactions for online iGaming industry In Canada.
Interac is already available on Betzest cashier for both deposits and the withdrawal of winnings, offering real-time payments for Canadian players.
Online sports betting and Casino Betzest continues increasing its operations since its launch in July 2018. Betzest is quickly becoming one of world’s leading online gambling company offering best sports betting and casino games.
Marius Filip, Founder/CMO at Betzest, said: We are very excited to conclude another new partnership with leading payment method Interac™. We are always looking to improve the Betzest™ product for our players and this innovative & secure payment provider will play a vital part in helping Betzest™ to facilitate transactions in Canadian market. A big thank you to our Betzest team for this great achievement and to Interac Team for their constant support during the process. We’ve had a tremendously pro-active start to 2020 with a remarkable collection of world-class payment and casino providers on the way. I’m certain the best is yet to come.”
About Betzest
Betzest is your leading premier Online Sportsbook and Casino operator run by a team of experienced i-gaming experts.
Due to its unique product and marketing proposition, Betzest is rapidly establishing itself as one of the most trustworthy and reliable gaming company.
Betzest is offering unrivalled sports betting and casino games experience now under reputable MGA license. The company operations continue to expand in variety of markets and online gambling verticals such as Live Betting, Live Casino, E-sports and Virtual Sports. Betzest boasts its robust and multi-functional online sports betting & Casino operating on SportingTech platform. Today Betzest has more than 65 employees across four offices all committed to delivering amazing player experiences on each of their verticals, partnering with top gaming providers.
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