a better way to protect online casino players?
Mandatory for all banks operating in France since January 1, 2018, open banking is a market-shaking innovation. Appearing in the second European Payment Services Directive (PSD2) of 2013, the concept of open banking aims to allow banks to share their data with other financial service players.
According to Roberto Villani, head of iGaming at TrueLayer, a U.K.-based company that specializes in open banking, online casino operators can use this tool to better protect players without disrupting their experience.
Online casinos: open banking as a player protection tool
Subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), banks and financial services, as well as online casinos, must be completely transparent about the commercial transactions carried out with their customers’ banking data, which cannot be processed without their consent (deposits, transfers and other routine operations).
When the privacy and confidentiality of users are well respected, open banking, which refers to the use of programming interfaces to create applications and services for financial institutions, can play a great role in the banking ecosystem.
According to Roberto Villani, former business manager at Trustly and Microgaming, now head of TrueLayer’s iGaming business, operators need to implement stricter controls, monitor for warning signs of gambling addiction among their customers, and ensure the effectiveness of a host of complex protocols. ” When they enroll, oeople are being asked to share their latest bank statements, send their pay slips, send emails back and forth. This can take days, is very confusing, and most importantly, is error prone “, warns Roberto Villani.
And the latter continues: ” Open banking offers users a simple and secure way to provide their financial information and gives operators all the data they need to protect their customers, while reducing the risk of losing them. Open banking applications provide a way for operators to connect to their customers’ bank accounts, once consent is obtained, using secure APIs. Operators can then access the player’s financial data and make a payment if necessary. If the player is in debt, the online casino is required to stop all incoming transactions from the player’s account. “.
Relieving the burden on internet casino customer support departments
Gabriele Griesbacher, director of payments and compliance at Entain, believes open banking works for another reason. She says new regulations, especially on affordability, create a particularly painful and intrusive experience for users.
And that’s not all: ” It also puts enormous pressure on the customer support teams to reassure and guide people through the process. The use of open banking is great in this case because it takes a lot of pressure off the employees “she says.
