Connect with us

Latest News

Exclusive Q&A with Alex Morgan-Moodie, Senior Director, Worldpay

Published

on

Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

We talk here with a passionate gaming industry professional, mainly about the risks of fraud.

Alex Morgan-Moodie, who currently holds the position of Senior Director, Vertical Growth focusing on Gaming Vertical at Worldpay, offers insightful and precise answers about various facets of fraud.

 

Q. We usually start with a quick bio. Our readers love it. Could you briefly narrate how you landed in the gaming industry and progressed?

A. I started in the gaming industry back in 2009 when I joined PokerStars as an analyst in the payments team. I was soon learning about payment trends and regulatory complexity from Europe to the US, Latin America and other emerging markets. From there I was hooked and after roles in product delivery and corporate development (including working on the integration of Sky Betting & Gaming into the group in 2018 and preparation for the company’s subsequent acquisition by Flutter) I moved to Worldpay to lead our global Gaming vertical strategy.  The role felt made for me and I haven’t looked back. My role may have expanded since I joined, but the gaming industry remains my passion.

Q. You joined Worldpay Gaming in September 2020. Could you describe your role and responsibilities?

A. As I mentioned, my role entails defining the strategy for Worldpay’s presence in the Gaming industry together with my team. We support the commercial teams by defining our value proposition, keeping them abreast of trends and developments, and partner with our account managers to support our tier-1 customers in mid to long-range planning. We also work with Legal and Risk to explore new markets and help Product to define the gaming-specific product roadmap. Finally, we are the team that ensure Worldpay shows up at key events – ICE, G2E or our own merchant workshops for example. As you can see, it’s pretty varied but the vertical itself is hugely important to Worldpay – we’ve been supporting customers here for over 20 years and have masses of experience working within operators themselves as well as being payments partners.

Q. You are talking about global digital fraud in London ICE – especially about how digital fraud in the gaming sector increasing even while the incidence of overall global fraud shows signs of decline. What do you think are the reasons why the gaming sector seems particularly vulnerable to fraud?

A. I think the story around fraud is an interesting one because we see fraud attempts in ecommerce increasing generally across the globe, driven in part by the shift online as people have reduced their in-person spending and usage of cash, so with more transactions online, there is more data. With that said, the increase of fraud in the gaming sector appears to be driven by the competitive nature of new, emerging markets and the types of bonus offers we’ve seen, such as in the US in order to gain market share. This leads to ‘friendly fraud’ or ‘bonus abuse’ where opportunists will attempt to create several accounts in order to take advantage of multiple offers. Thankfully, operators in general manage large teams and develop bespoke tools that go some way to managing that risk – but it is certainly a drag on growth.

Q. What are the challenges and opportunities in front of gaming entrepreneurs in balancing the risk of fraud versus the need to provide an amazingly seamless end-user experience?

A. Gaming consumers are savvy and demanding, and this means their expectations around user experience are high. Seamless and real-time are the key tenets and any additional checks – whether they are regulatory requirements, for fraud or in order to protect players for safer gambling purposes – need to fit into that seamless experience as far as possible. This means identifying tools that can operate in real-time whilst minimising the need for manual intervention. Thankfully payment solutions have come a long way since I first joined the industry and we are now able to offer solutions to ensure how a player pays or withdraws winnings is seamless and real-time wherever possible – something our research tells us drives loyalty for customers, which is essential when the marketplace is as competitive as it is.

Q. Now, tell us about the recent Worldpay FIS Global Gaming Payments Report. What are the key insights from that report that explores payments habits in over 40 markets and real-time payment trends?

A. The GGPR is a much-anticipated round up of industry trends and payments information. So it’s a pleasure to be responsible for its delivery after years as an avid reader. This year, as well as the usual country profiles on key established and emerging markets in the industry, we’ve also done deep dives into trends such as the emergent fraud challenges mentioned above, as well as the opportunity presented by omnichannel gaming as users have returned to physical stores and suddenly operators want a single view of their customers across all of their physical and online stores. We also tackle the opportunities presented by improvements in virtual reality technology that will potentially give rise to gaming metaverses of the future, and our thoughts on how the industry is adapting to cryptocurrency/blockchain technology.

Q. Could you talk about the innovations and strategies Worldpay has adopted or planning to adopt to curb the growing fraud in the gaming sector?

A. At Worldpay, our role is to develop tools that augment operators’ in-house solutions and provide yet more data points to help them identify and prevent fraud. We have seen huge success in the sector with our new Fraudsight tool, which uses machine learning to review the billions of transactions Worldpay is processing per annum and continuously update a set of configurable fraud rules for operators to help flag and prevent fraud, providing yet another layer of protection. This is already in the market with significant adoption in the gambling industry, and we’re continuing to find innovative ways of curbing fraud in the gaming sector.

Q. New Neural Language Models (NLM) applications are emerging after the news-making launch of OpenAi’s ChatGPT. How do you view such developments in the machine-learning sector with respect to the risk of fraud in the gaming sector?

A. As mentioned above, Fraudsight is already harnessing machine learning to improve how it identifies fraud. Beyond that, I think the possibility to harness AI technology advancements to refine existing tools and identify new ones is almost limitless. We invest in product innovation teams that are focused on identifying exactly that; so there are lots more to come!

 

George Miller (Gyorgy Molnar) started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Latest News

Expanse Studios Announces Media Collaboration with Renowned List.Casino

Published

on

Reading Time: < 1 minutes

 

Expanse Studios, a leader in developing innovative online gaming products, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with List.Casino, a trusted casino comparison site known for its meticulous user reviews and game recommendations.

List.Casino has made a mark in the online gaming community by providing players with a reliable guide to hundreds of licensed, safe, and thoroughly vetted online casinos. Reflective of their name, the platform specializes in curating specific lists tailored to each page’s content. This meticulous approach ensures that players are presented with casinos that truly match the promised payment services, games, bonuses, and other unique features, making the search for the ideal gambling destination easier and more efficient.

But List.Casino doesn’t just stop at vetting online casinos. They’ve also offered access to intriguing gambling news and in-depth analyses, the latest casino promotions, and, more recently, a keen focus on slot games and other casino-based entertainment. Each game on their platform undergoes a comprehensive review, encompassing all vital information, allowing players to make informed choices about suitable games.

Expanse Studios’ collaboration with List.Casino is a testament to both brands’ commitment to excellence. The partnership will see Expanse Studios’ range of games, notably the brand new ‘Pinjata Loca’, featured and reviewed on the platform.

Commenting on the partnership, a spokesperson from List.Casino said, “We are elated to collaborate with Expanse Studios and delve deep into reviewing their remarkable slots. After a close look at their top-notch products, it was an easy decision to spotlight ‘Pinjata Loca’ as our game of the month.”

This collaboration aims to bring the best of both worlds to the gaming community, ensuring that players have access to top-tier games in an environment that prioritizes safety, transparency, and user experience.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Enrich Gaming content now live with Betsson

Published

on

Reading Time: < 1 minutes

 

Enrich Gaming, a newly launched game developer of high-quality slots, has today announced that it has integrated its content onto Tier 1 operator – Betsson.

This latest integration means that players will now have access to Enrich Gaming’s exciting new titles such as 20 Lines of Fire, 40 Lines of Fire and Clover on Fire and that will be available across multiple markets around the world.

The team behind Enrich Gaming has accumulated a wealth of experience over the years in creating slots that will truly engage the player, and this knowledge has resulted in a fantastic portfolio of low volatility games that include high quality graphics with an assortment of bonus features.

A spokesperson for Enrich Gaming said, “We couldn’t be happier that our first industry announcement is that we’ve launched on Betsson and we’re only getting started. Producing the optimum player experience is what drives us. We want to ensure that our games deliver an unparalleled end-user experience, which is why we are excited to collaborate closely with our partners and we can’t wait to release our next batch of games on the Betsson platform soon.”

Paul Malt, Head of Games at Betsson, said: ““We’re delighted to have partnered with Enrich Gaming. We know their growing collection of games are going to be a hit with our players and make a fantastic addition to our market-leading portfolio.”

Continue Reading

Latest News

EveryMatrix first iGaming provider to achieve WLA Safer Gambling certification

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

EveryMatrix has become the first iGaming supplier to be awarded World Lottery Association (WLA) Safer Gambling certification following a rigorous company-wide audit process.

EveryMatrix, the industry’s fastest growing betting and gaming technology provider, joins an exclusive list of iLottery suppliers to have achieved this status.

The WLA has recognised the company’s existing high standards and ongoing and future commitments to go above and beyond its requirements to become a leader in Safer Gambling best practice.

The business underwent a stringent audit process to achieve certification. This included providing evidence that both showcased and pledges to abide by and continually implement the WLA’s guiding principles aimed at protecting players.

EveryMatrix’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policy includes a strengthened Safer Gambling strategy to ensure all its employees across its 12 global offices and all its clients have the necessary tools available to them and are fully informed of the latest research to operate in a responsible and ethical way.

Ebbe Groes, CEO, EveryMatrix, said: “The WLA are pioneers in safer gambling certification and we’re delighted they have recognised our work, commitments and pledges to both uphold and drive forward safer gambling best practice across everything we do.

“We entered this process because we firmly believe that to create and maintain a sustainable and successful industry we must ensure that all players are protected and given the right options to play safely and responsibly, and all our customers are informed of any risks and the actions needed to mitigate those risks.

“I’m personally committed to this, believe this is the way forward for both iLottery and iGaming and hope many others join us.”

Naomi Koops, Senior Compliance Counsel & Safer Gambling Co-ordinator, EveryMatrix, said: “This is the beginning of a company-wide commitment to follow the WLA principles, not just for the lotteries we partner with, but also for all our clients. Ensuring our products and services are developed with the very latest academic research, with player protection in mind, is a key priority for the business.

“We are building a safer gambling culture at EveryMatrix and are committed to becoming industry leaders in this space in the years to come.”

Melissa Azam, CSR Senior Manager, WLA, said: “The WLA is pleased to officially recognise EveryMatrix’s adherence to the WLA Responsible Gaming Guidelines for suppliers highlighting their commitment to ensuring player protection and safer gambling is at the core of both their own and their customers’ operations.”

EveryMatrix has a dedicated Global Sustainability section for its customers and their players to access.

Continue Reading

Trending

We are constantly showing banners about important news regarding events and product launches. Please turn AdBlock off in order to see these areas.