IBIA Upgrades Technology Platform to Strengthen Global Betting Integrity Efforts

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has today announced a significant upgrade to the technology platform that supports its global integrity monitoring network. This enhancement will provide IBIA and its growing membership with access to advanced tools designed to safeguard regulated betting markets, protect consumers, and maintain the integrity of sporting events around the world.

The technology upgrade, developed in partnership with Bluehouse Technology, has been specifically tailored to meet IBIA’s operational needs. It streamlines the process for identifying and reporting suspicious betting activity, enabling a faster and more efficient response to potential integrity threats. The platform upgrade is part of IBIA’s ongoing commitment to investing in technological resources to combat betting-related manipulation.

The new platform enhances the ability to monitor for suspicious activity, improve data analysis, and share actionable insights with key stakeholders. That includes access to specific monitoring and alert data streams for key stakeholders, such as gambling regulatory authorities, thereby significantly improving interaction and cooperation that supports important investigatory activity. This improved collaboration will play a pivotal role in supporting investigations and reinforcing trust in the integrity of global betting markets.

Khalid Ali, CEO at IBIA, said: “IBIA’s new integrity technology platform provides enhanced functionality and greatly improves our ability to analyse our members’ customer account level data, which covers over $300bn in betting transactions annually, to identify and report suspicious betting activity. The upgrade allows us to provide a technological platform that keeps pace with the integrity requirements of our growing membership and the scope and scale of the market data we receive across our wider intelligence network. It will be a key pillar in our ongoing efforts to protect the integrity of sporting events and regulated sports betting markets globally.”

Sharmila Pillai, Director at Bluehouse Technology, said: “We are thrilled to have worked closely with IBIA to develop this new monitoring and alert platform. Our team worked hard to ensure the project was completed on time and within budget, and we are pleased that it has passed a rigorous independent security audit by a leading testing and certification company.”

IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets using transactional activity linked to individual customer accounts. The new platform provides a number of important technological advancements to assist that process, which have passed an independent security audit performed by Bulletproof, a Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) company.

The new platform launch comes shortly before the sports betting market opening in Brazil, which is forecast by H2 Gambling Capital to reach $34bn in sports betting turnover by 2028, with IBIA members representing over 70% of the market’s gross gambling revenue. IBIA and the Brazilian Ministry of Finance have recently signed an integrity cooperation agreement that will allow for the sharing of information concerning suspicious betting activity connected to Brazilian sport.

Khalid Ali, CEO at IBIA, further commented: “The upgrade of IBIA’s monitoring and alert platform is particularly timely given the imminent launch of regulated sports betting in Brazil. We’re confident that this tool will provide best-in-class support for our new members and partners, including the Brazilian authorities and sporting bodies, to protect the market and sporting events.”

IBIA’s Q3 report detailed 42 alerts during the quarter. IBIA alerts contributed to the investigations and subsequent successful sanctioning of 21 clubs, players and officials in 2023.