Being joined by Charles Harper and the opening of the North American office has ensured iGaming Academy some busy and exciting months ahead.

With our current North American training portfolio including topics such as Anti-Money Laundering, Responsible Gaming, Online Sportsbook, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Service and the recently launched COVID Readiness training, it was time, like the company expansion, to start broadening our course offering specifically for the US.

Like in Europe, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) & Counter-Terrorism Financing and Responsible Gaming (RG) are at the forefront when it comes to mandatory training for most states in the US. With our current US portfolio, these courses have been more tailored for online gaming operators to address the wave of regulation in the US, so it was time for our attention to be directed towards having Land-based AML and RG training available that addresses today’s regulations across all US states and Canada.

As the development plan is in full swing and our North American portfolio expanding, other course topics that will be added are Equality & Diversity, Sexual Harassment and Safety in the Workplace specifically developed and designed towards the US working environment. These new courses will be a great enhancement and add value to the learning and development departments of any company.

If you are interested in these up-and-coming courses or would like to arrange a consultation with iGaming Academy, or learn more about our North American portfolio or other specialist training, contact us today.

As the situation with COVID-19 continues to impact daily life in Great Britain, the Gambling Commission is following Public Health England guidance and is calling on licenced gambling operators to implement additional measures in order to minimise their employees and customers’ exposure to the pandemic risks.

In line with the Social Responsibility Code provisions, the Gambling Commission licensees must interact with customers in a way which minimises the risk harms associated with gambling. According to the Commission’s guidance on customer interaction, the licensees should identify customers who may be at risk of experiencing gambling harms, interact with customers to prevent the risks and evaluate the impact of the interaction.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown, on the 13th of May the UK Gambling Commission issued additional formal guidance for remote operators during COVID-19 outbreak. Licensees should ensure they have additional preventive measures implemented into their customer interaction framework.

The most important initiative requires the licensed operators to monitor the amount of time and money that players spend during the pandemic, and to intervene if this increases compared to pre-crisis levels. Operators are advised to review their time indicators to capture play in excess of 1 hour as this is a proxy for potential harm and might require interaction.

The thresholds and triggers of vulnerability should be reviewed to reflect changed financial circumstances that many consumers will be experiencing. Additional thresholds and triggers might be set specifically for new customers considering the operators lack of knowledge of that individual’s play and spend patterns.

Reverse withdrawal options for customers to be stopped until further notice. Customers displaying signs of gambling harms should not receive bonus offers or promotions. Operators will also increase safer gambling messaging directed at all consumers across their websites and apps.

Timely identifying and interacting with customers at risk might help to prevent or significantly reduce the impact of gambling related harms in times of pandemic. These measures will be kept under periodic review by the Gambling Commission.