Mobinc – Preventing bonusing abuse roundtable

Alex Bolton Casino Manager at Mobinc

With operators reporting a rise in the abuse of promotional offers by players, the cost of such activity to the industry is huge. In this round-table feature, we discover the strategies that are being put in place to prevent the abuse of bonuses, including the use of advanced technologies to address the problem.

Is bonus abuse simply a cost of doing business for operators, or a much bigger problem?

When it comes to customers abusing bonuses, in addition to cost, there are also significant concerns present including money laundering and issues related to problem gambling. Addressing one of these inevitably means you mitigate the potential problematic outcomes of the other and so with this in mind, we’ve incorporated tools that identify and combat bonus abuse, which also mitigate possible AML issues. At Mobinc, we take bonus abuse very seriously and are constantly monitoring our brands to ensure that they provide a safe and secure environment for our customers.

How has the problem evolved in recent years and are operators doing enough to combat it?

Bonus abuse is constantly evolving to circumvent the new mechanics, regulations and software that were originally put in place to prevent it. You could compare it to a virus in that it is constantly adapting to circumvent the measures used to prevent previous attempts from succeeding. We have made things harder for abusers by making bonus rules more intricate, altering bonus payouts and blocking high-risk locations, but as an industry we must remain vigilant and share intelligence across what is an ever-changing landscape. By cooperating we can hopefully avoid exposing ourselves to future vulnerabilities.

What strategies have traditionally been put in place at a platform level to control the issue and how is new technology improving matters?

We have a variety of strategies in place to combat bonus abuse, such as implementing software which alerts us about the use of multiple accounts, identifying patterns relating to opposite betting strategies, updating our KYC technology, as well as a system which identifies and prevents abusive gameplay. By constantly developing our technology, we’re able to make it harder for abusers to bypass it. It’s crucial for operators to regularly update services with the latest technologies so that the industry can stay one step ahead.

Can operators employing the latest machine learning tech gain an important competitive advantage by getting the problem under control?

Of course, operators are certainly able to supply more attractive bonus offers and ultimately provide a superior experience to customers. However, the landscape is always changing and what may be considered new technology might be considered to be outdated in an alarmingly short amount of time. Therefore, it’s imperative that operators and partners embrace these updated technologies and work closer together to stamp out a problem which costs the industry millions every year.