Operators must ensure that they employ the most accurate onboarding processes when looking to expand into the US gaming market. That’s according to Michael Goonan, Account Executive Director of Online Gaming at Socure.
Speaking to SBC Events ahead of this week’s SBC Digital Payments 2021, he explained how he expects to see an increase in fraud risk and regulatory oversight across the post-PASPA market before touching upon Socure’s plans to showcase its comprehensive identity verification suite that includes market-leading fraud, transaction risk, AML and document verification products.
SBC: What are you looking forward to at SBC Digital Payments 2021?
As the online gaming industry continues to grow exponentially in the U.S., we are excited to meet with leaders in the industry to learn about forward-looking initiatives. In particular, we are interested in discussing cashless for land-based casinos, a continued focus on omnichannel user engagement, and the evolving regulatory landscape. SBC has done an outstanding job of bringing together the industry leaders that are shaping this new market.
The Socure team is looking forward to sharing the value we are bringing to the gaming market, with a specific focus on improving responsible growth through increased auto-approvals for identity verification, including KYC, compliance, fraud and AML.
SBC: What are your predictions for the gaming industry in 2021?
First and foremost, I expect we’ll see continued growth in the number of new players as the footprint for legalization in the U.S. expands with more states seeing the benefits of allowing online gaming.
That said, competition is going to heat up due to the large sums of capital investment raised by gaming operators and service providers as they look to grow their presence in the digital space. The same can be said of the influx of capital flowing into European and Asian operators as they look to gain market share in the U.S.
This enormous amount of new capital will enable operators to significantly scale marketing spend to further fuel adoption of online gaming by a much higher percentage of U.S. consumers.
With this growth and increased player adoption, we expect to see an increase in fraud risk and regulatory oversight while operators with the most accurate onboarding solutions will drive a competitive advantage vs their peers.
SBC: What are you promoting at SBC Digital Payments 2021?
Top operators in the U.S. like DraftKings are leveraging Socure to drive player growth by auto-accepting more new players across a broad range of demographics using our Intelligent KYC and AML. We will be showcasing those products along with our comprehensive identity verification suite that includes market-leading fraud, transaction risk, AML, and document verification products.
SBC: What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2021?
The convergence of land-based operations and their newer digital offerings, and a continued focus on establishing a holistic view of the player relationship across all channels. The digital environment enables operators to safely scale to meet the significant growth we are experiencing in the U.S. and provide innovative services to those players over the lifetime of their relationship.
SBC: Which parts of the conference agenda have caught your eye?
As we work together as an industry to harness the enormous growth in the U.S. market, the panels that discuss improving the customer journey and payment options while addressing the rising bar for compliance, AML, and fraud risk will provide important new insights.
