FRAUD AND ID VERIFICATION : MARKET UPDATE
ID VERIFICATION
ENTERS DIGITAL AGE
Digital identities help gambling sites tackle fraud and could revolutionise their interactions with customers , says Robin Tombs of Yoti . They can also reassure both operators and players that all of their visitors and opponents are real .
The way web users sign up to websites and apps has barely changed since the internet was born . For most websites , customers enter an email address and create a password , sometimes with a separate username . For sites that need to check out who a customer is , or that they are above a certain age , the customer has to enter more personal details , which the website verifies with a third party identity service ( with varying degrees of success depending on the person ’ s age , credit file and the available databases in a country ).
In some countries such as the UK , checking customer details works fairly well , but is usually expensive , fiddly and certainly not instant . It ’ s very hard to verify registrant data in many countries , forcing operators to go back to customers and ask them to send a scan or photocopy of their passport or driving licence . But as more of our lives are spent online , relying on paper ID documents creates too much friction and slows things down for everyone . Furthermore , people can easily create fake online profiles or purchase high quality fake IDs , making it difficult to know who to trust and how to confirm who someone really is .
The technology now exists to provide everyone with a digital identity that contains the key details from their passport or driving licence , which are verified and matched to their biometrics , making it impossible to fake . This allows them to easily and securely share verified details , both online and in person , rather than having to scan their passport in every gaming app they register for . People can transfer the relevant attributes using an easy-to-use app on their phone and can minimise the amount of data they otherwise would be forced to share through photocopied documents ; protecting them from the ever-growing risk of identity fraud . And for gaming companies , they have a simpler and more secure way to verify and authenticate their customers — in seconds .
A gambling operator needs to know someone ’ s name , that they ’ re 18-plus , and that this information has been verified against an ID document . The operator doesn ’ t need to know a customer ’ s passport number , expiry date or date of birth — the type of data a hacker would love to get their hands on .
Plenty of registrants are in a rush and enter incorrect details , resulting in a high volume of mismatches and laborious account recoveries . Digital identities eliminate typos , duplicate account set-ups and fake accounts , helping to tackle fraud head on .
A Harris Research survey showed that as many as 24 % of players attempting to open an account with an online gaming firm had abandoned the process , mainly due to registration being too slow and complicated . For gambling sites , fast customer registration with verified attributes is a winning combination , and just the start of it . A customer with their own digital identity can easily log in to their favourite gambling site ( s ) using their biometrics — a secure alternative to those pesky passwords . We can wave goodbye to usernames , passwords , calls to customer support requesting the reset of forgotten details , and answering endless security questions , therefore giving players a more seamless experience . In an era of countless data breaches , individuals can feel confident that only they can access their account , personal information and precious card and bank details .
Digital identities are set to revolutionise how payment cards and methods are linked to a unique person so only that player can transfer money with their verified card details . This prevents fraudsters from setting up fake accounts with stolen credit cards to make deposits , win a few coin spins and withdraw the winnings to a bank account of their choice , giving gambling fraud departments a powerful new tool to beat the fraudsters . It also becomes very hard for ‘ a sore loser ’ to claim that someone else was playing on their account or making new deposits with their card . Gambling companies can confidently offer more generous bonus schemes to unique people without worrying about bonus abuse , where one person creates numerous accounts with multiple identities .
Players will also no longer face frustrating , unexpected KYC checks when withdrawing winnings for the first time , with the added benefit of knowing that the other game players are not all the same person , or a bot .
The future is bright . It ’ s going to get easier for gambling companies to engage with more customers with less friction , higher levels of security and lower fraud risk , across numerous countries . More regulators will recognise that responsible operators are increasingly able to fulfil their regulatory requirements at a lower cost with higher levels of player satisfaction — unless you are a fraudster .
Robin Tombs is CEO and co-founder of Yoti , a global technology company whose aim is to be the world ’ s trusted identity system . Prior to Yoti , Robin was co-founder and finance director at Gamesys , one of the world ’ s leading online gaming operators .
iGamingBusiness | Issue 106 | September / October 2017 | 113