Affordability checks have become a key topic of discussion in the run-up to the impending Gambling Act review. But while they are still considered to be a relatively new requirement, this does not mean they should be overlooked by gambling companies.

Ahead of ICE next week, TruNarrative’s Head of Gaming Adam Doyle (pictured, right) highlights the importance of introducing an effective affordability monitoring system. Moreover, he explains how the TruNarrative Dynamic Responsibility Gambling Score ensures that no player slips through the gaps when it comes to affordability checks.

SBC: For those that don’t know, can you tell us a little bit about TruNarrative?

AD: The TruNarrative Platform was built to help operators protect players, expand into new markets and maintain compliance with current and future regulation. We work with operators across the globe to safely onboard and monitor their players.

SBC: Looking ahead to the much-anticipated findings of the Gambling Act review in the near future, how important is it that gambling companies are prioritising affordability, KYC and ID verification?

AD: Operators have been required to prioritise KYC and IDV for a long time now, and those that didn’t have suffered heavy fines or aren’t here anymore. Affordability is something relatively new but should be treated as equally important.

All the operators I know of are evaluating and evolving their responsible gambling strategy to meet affordability guidance. Investing in technology around affordability will allow operators to continue to deliver a safe and enjoyable experience for their players.

SBC: How is TruNarrative supporting operators in doing this?

AD: Through TruNarrative, operators can bring together IDV, KYC and affordability checks into a single seamless customer journey and make decisions accordingly. The platform also allows operators to make strategy changes in-house and build processes to ensure rapid compliance with current and future regulations.

With TruNarrative, you can view data that gives an indication of a customer’s bets without being too intrusive or disrupting the customer journey. Affordability checks can sit through different points within a player’s journey. Currently we have four different affordability checking processes to allow you to carry out the relevant level of check as the player spends more. The information return ranges from risk assessments, wealth/distress indicators, understanding a player’s financial commitments and document capture and validation.  

SBC: Is it a lengthy process to introduce effective affordability monitoring systems or can this be quite quick to take to market? And what are the common misconceptions among operators about the process?

AD: A few misconceptions I’ve come across include the thought that affordability assessments are an invasive process involving looking into a customer’s bank account or requiring the customer to surrender personal or intrusive information. Another, which runs counter the above, is that people can lie and say they have more of an income than they do.

With regards to the implementation of affordability monitoring technology being a lengthy process, there are indeed multiple touch points needed to make an accurate assessment, starting from onboarding through to behavioural monitoring and withdrawal. However, there is technology out there that can pull these data points together in a meaningful way, without adding friction to the customer journey or requiring extensive dev resources.

SBC:Tell us about your Dynamic Responsibility Gambling Score. How is this helping to ensure affordability and evidence compliance?

AD: The TruNarrative Dynamic Responsibility Gambling Score is a metric that is unique to each player. It is derived from a number of different public and credit attributes. But this is also supported with risk-based events and thresholds that also look at different changes of behaviours of a player that might cause further investigation.

Continuously monitoring a player is key to an affordability process as carrying out a single affordability check is only valid at that given point in time. Supporting this with continually monitoring players can allow you to see changes and flag when an additional check needs to be carried out. This ensures no player slips through the gaps. 

SBC: What can we expect from TruNarrative in 2022?

AD: Following our acquisition by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, we are looking forward to expanding into new markets including the US and South America. Also, it’s great to enhance our App Store with additional data sources from the LNRS product family including Emailage and ThreatMetrix.