5 ways to win when onboarding new players in online gaming

For gaming operators, smooth and speedy onboarding is absolutely essential, however it can be made more complicated due to regulatory requirements, which can add friction to the journey.

Here we tell you how our all-in-one solution, UniversalConnect, can optimise onboarding, adhere to regulations, keep new customers happy and ready to play, and more likely to stay with you.

We’ve got the insights and global solutions to help…

There are a number of new regulatory trends that are challenging operators’ ability to quickly verify and onboard new players.

If you’re a UK-based operator, you now have to adhere to UKGC rules to prevent underage gambling. You can read our Guide to LCCP (Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice) here. These rules prevent players from gambling until their name, address and date of birth have been completely verified. 

Previously, online gambling sites were allowed a window of 72 hours to carry out age verification checks. 

European operators outside the UK have their own set of regulatory challenges, but regardless of where you’re based operators need to avoid onboarding mistakes, and get it right, in order to satisfy regulatory mandates, reduce abandonment, improve conversion rates, and win new players’ loyalty.

1: Make it a smooth and speedy onboarding experience

If you provide a slow, clunky onboarding experience you’ve basically failed, as the chances are the player will give up and go elsewhere. 

But this is exactly what many operators do, by using multiple vendors for their identity verification process. Many operators begin onboarding by cross-checking name, address, date of birth with a credit agency. By using this approach 30% of players are initially rejected because there is not an exact match or there is no data on file. 

If that happens, many operators use a secondary vendor to verify an identity document. However, this creates clunky UX and a time lag between checks, and leads to online abandonment and lost customers. 

This can be avoided by using a single provider, one that leverages better data, which means there are much less initial rejections, and means follow-up document authentication can be asked for immediately, if it’s needed, so that a customer can onboard when they want to, rather than wait, be confused, annoyed, and just give up.   

2: Add age and address verification

For online gambling, individual European countries are still ultimately responsible for passing their own laws, meaning there’s no legislation or regulation to standardise betting and gaming throughout Europe. 

So there are significant differences from one country to another. That said, the recent UKGC mandates for upfront age and identity verification will most likely become the standard for other countries. 

This means gaming operators who want to stay up to date, comply with common industry regulations, and avoid issues from not doing so, should embed age and address verification, because sooner rather than later it is likely to be regulation in every country.

3: Adhere to AML5

Anti-money laundering (AML) is rapidly becoming one of the most pressing regulatory areas for gaming operators across all major jurisdictions. Of particular note, the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which becomes effective on 20 January, 2020, adds some additional provisions that impact gaming operators. 

The changes will regulate the use of virtual currencies and increase the level of scrutiny required for transactions from high-risk countries.

4: Make the mobile experience a good experience 

Mobile onboarding presents a sizable, yet often missed, opportunity for gaming operators to win new customers. 

Millenials and younger gamers prefer to play via an app on their mobile (or tablet), however the sign-up process on these devices can be lengthy, difficult, and provide blockers. And when people using them are used to being able to access services online and through other apps quickly and easily, in a click or two, then they are hugely put off when they go to a gambling app and can’t sign up easily and just place a bet. 

5: Eliminate manual reviews 

Manual reviews are not your friend. They cost money, can be inaccurate, and the time they take means there’s a high chance the player will drop off.

Using a process that requires manual reviews slows down the onboarding process and frustrates players.  

If address verification is needed, doing so manually using bank or credit card statements is time consuming and a poor choice.

Equally when age verification is needed for online onboarding, this can be automated, so operators that are still using manual methods for this check, are not only missing an opportunity for a better system, they are wasting time, money, and through slow or bad UX they are losing customers!

With today’s tech is it possible to automate KYC and identity verification, to eliminate, or drastically reduce manual reviews. 

How Acuant can help   

Our solutions are used in over 177 countries, you can find out about our global coverage here. 

We offer the largest suite of E-KYC tools for gambling and gaming, all available via a single API called UniversalConnect. It has everything you need, it’s is easy to integrate, and offers the best UX. 

This diagram below shows everything that can be done via our single API. It incorporates the 5 ways to win outlined above, via a seamless journey, and can simply do further checks if needed, for the ultimate solution to E-KYC. 

The above shows everything that can be done via our single API, and incorporate all of our products listed below, which can be used by clients individually, in combination, or all-in-one via a single API.

Acuant Identity’s Alternative and Social Data – Verify anyone, anywhere in the world in seconds, using alternative data, which allows operators to onboard more customers, and faster than ever before. 

iDocufy –  Our class-leading document verification software, an automated system that can verify any national identity document, such as a driving licence or passport, in a matter of seconds. 

BioMatch – Best-in-class facial recognition to verify national photo ID.

UtilityConnect – For address verification, using live utility data, which is the easiest and most accurate way to verify address .

Mobile and Email Validate – verify numbers and addresses to make sure they are accurate and active. 

PEPCheck – PEPs and Sanction checks, for Enhanced Due Diligence. 

FraudWeb – Dark web checks, for Enhanced Due Diligence.