We caught up with Fraser Linkleter, CMO at Slots Temple:
Slots Temple is the first affiliate site to become licensed in the UK. Tell us what this means for an affiliate as opposed to an operator.
Being awarded our UKGC licence is a game-changer for our business. It means we’re now able to offer cash prizes in our tournaments, making our players’ experience so much more exciting and enjoyable. We’ve been running tournaments for a long time, but being able to offer cash prizes really puts us into a unique position within the market.
We’ll continue to provide links to operators and tell our players about the operator bonus offers, but having our own licence means we can also give players a more engaging experience while they’re on our site.
Slots Temple offers free to play slots, but regulatory compliance is still an important part of your business, isn’t it?
Absolutely! We’ve built our business to be fully compliant – whether people are playing free games, entering tournaments and looking for an operator offer.
Tell us some of the compliance challenges you have faced over the years and how they differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
The differing age verification requirements for each jurisdiction has meant we’ve had to partner with different data providers and build our registration processes differently. Luckily our business is able to do this and it allows us to launch in new regions with a tailored offering, for example when we launched in Canada and the US in the last couple of years.
Will increased regulation in Europe and the UK impact the affiliate space in a big way? How so?
Undoubtedly. As regulation increases operators will choose their affiliate partners with increasing care and will only work with the partners they can trust to behave responsibly.
There are lots of great affiliates in the industry who take responsible gambling very seriously and are used to adapting to new rules and being compliant – these guys will continue to prosper. The more shady affiliates will find partnerships harder to come by in regulated territories.
Should affiliates be taking the lead in promoting social responsibility in the gaming industry? Is it important from a strategic business point of view and not just a moral one?
Without doubt, affiliates can and should play a critical role in promoting social responsibility. We’ve focussed on social responsibility since we began, and have found it a great way to build trust with our player base.
Conforming to Safer Gambling regulations also helps instil trust with the casino operators.By offering a compliant, safe place to play we’re increasing our appeal to players as well as building confidence with our affiliate partners.
Slots Temple is a member of Responsible Affiliates in Gambling. Can you tell us about what this organisation does and why you wanted to be a part of it?
Responsible Affiliates in Gambling is a group of like minded businesses who want to raise the standards of affiliates in gambling. In our experience, affiliates can sometimes be given a bad reputation and we want to help change the perception of affiliates in the industry by showing affiliates can also be fully compliant and take Safer Gambling seriously.
Do you plan to apply for licenses in more jurisdictions and if so where?
We’re always looking for new ways to expand our business and therefore we’ll never discount applying for licences within other regions. We’re watching the changes in Canada closely, and there may be some opportunities within the US, however we don’t currently have any immediate plans.
