Safer Gambling Weekly Round-Up, by Dam Mad Media

Gamcare

On Wednesday, GamCare released an updated version of their Safer Gambling Standard, urging operators to adopt the new revisions regarding corporate conduct and social responsibility duties.

The revised requirements cover 10 specific areas which are deemed to be key to safer gambling including self-exclusion, advertising, customer information and profiling, product design, staff training and the protection of children and young adults. GamCare will monitor a business’s performance in these 10 areas against 58 specific criteria, after which they will provide an ‘award level’ based on their evaluation.

In a statement, GamCare explained: “Joining the Safer Gambling Standard accreditation scheme demonstrates that your business has adopted a wide range of safer gambling measures that go beyond the social responsibility provisions of your gambling licence.”

GamCare have also launched a B2B version for platform providers, games developers and third-party services suppliers to the iGaming sector.

BetMGM

In other news, BetMGM have announced they will incorporate GameSense, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation’s player-focused education program, into their offering. This will see it being introduced to the US market for the first time.

Launched in 2009 and developed in-house by BCLC, the program is integrated into their products and marketing channels. With a focus on player-health, it helps customers make more informed gambling choices, aiming to boost player trust, awareness and education. Part of this sees easy access to specialists in player health online, over the phone and in every casino.

BCLC Interim CEO and President Lynda Cavanaugh said: “BCLC is so pleased that our forward-thinking approach to player health through our GameSense program continues to be adopted by other jurisdictions.

“Through this new agreement, BCLC looks forward to working with BetMGM to share best practices and new learnings as we continuously evolve our understanding and approach to online player-health supports.”

Meanwhile, the CEO of BetMGM, Adam Greenblatt, said: “As the mobile gaming industry in the US continues to grow, responsible gambling is a key focus for BetMGM and is critically important for the industry as a whole.

“GameSense presents a forward-thinking approach to responsible gambling. We look forward to empowering our players with a proven program, designed to help support a positive gambling experience.”

Gaming Innovation Group (GIG)

GiG have announced they have added responsible gaming features to their real-time data platform, GiG Data.

The focus is on early detection and full lifetime monitoring capabilities, with the new features being enabled by default. They will allow operators to intervene through the use of direct messages in real time in instances where players show risk of gambling-related harm.

Stephen Borg, Director of GiG Data, commented: “As a continued effort to build technology that supports today’s iGaming demands, we are excited to launch our proactive capabilities for player safety as part of our data platform. This initiative will support a healthier gambling environment for our partners and their players.”

France

In France, the ANJ have approved or suggested improvements to the player protection plans that licensees had to submit as part of the regulator’s increase focus on responsible gambling.

Congratulations are also due to YGAM, who won the Best Use of Digital from the Education Sector (Silver), Best Digital Communications during COVID19 (Silver) and Best Use of Digital by a Charity (Bronze) gongs at the Digital Impact Awards for their work with me&you.

Charities

Finally, last week, we reported that GamCare, GambleAware and YGAM had published their responses to the UK Government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act. This week, we thought it would be worthwhile collating some of the other contributions to this study from outside the iGaming sector.

Over the last four weeks, a wide-range of bodies have submitted evidence to the review including Christian Action Research and Education (CARE), the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute and ISBA. For their full reports, follow the links.

As would be expected from such a diverse group of organisations, the recommendations vary, but there are a number of areas in common across all submissions. The focus on tighter regulation is often cited, as well as advertising restrictions and spending limits.

Many of their suggestions are quite specific. Some of these include the late-night prohibition of gambling (CARE), changes to the design of games (Money and Mental Health Policy Institute) and the importance of ad tech in addressing the issue of problem gambling (ISBA).

Andrew Morgan, Director, Dam Mad Media