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

Published

2 years ago

March 17, 2023

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!

Latest News

OddsMatrix announces record performance numbers during 2024/25 football season

Published

8 minutes ago

July 8, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

OddsMatrix, EveryMatrix’s tier-1 turnkey sportsbook platform and odds feed service, has revealed significant year-on-year growth across its football product during the 2024/25 season, headlined by a rise in player prop betting.

Inclusive of all domestic global club football, major continental championships and international competitions, OddsMatrix delivered an average 2024/25 margin of 11.8%, a sharp increase on 2023/24 performance.

Overall turnover grew 28% season-on-season with volume of football bets placed on the platform surging 34% from 241.5 million in 2023/24 to 324.1 million in 2024/25 as the supplier continued to expand its client network and benefit from existing customer growth.

Demonstrating that behaviours are changing within the football betting community, the steepest season-on-season growth came in player prop betting. Dominated by the Shots on Target and Player to be Booked markets, player prop turnover grew 72% compared to 2023/24 with revenues from the betting type increasing 84% among OddsMatrix’s growing, global client base.

Fuelled by OddsMatrix’s recent integration partnership with Kero Sports and further development of its own in-house prop pricing models, player prop betting growth was further pronounced during the Champions League with shots betting accelerating 158% season-on-season while wagering on assists increased 149% during the 2024/25 continental championship.

The OddsMatrix numbers also point to sustained momentum for the well-established Bet Builder product. Firmly established as a sportsbook essential, the product continues to grow, alongside the award-winning sportsbook revealing a 127% season-on-season rise in Bet Builder turnover – driven by deeper in-house pricing integration.

Last week OddsMatrix was crowned sports betting supplier and sportsbook platform supplier of the year at the EGR B2B Awards 2025, alongside EveryMatrix picking up three major honours including top prize Full service platform of the year.

Tor Skeie, CEO, OddsMatrix, said: “It’s been another memorable club football season, with standout moments from PSG, Liverpool and Napoli. At OddsMatrix, we’re proud to have achieved exceptional year-on-year growth across our core football product metrics.

“In the last 12 months, not only have we rolled out a new proprietary horse racing solution, we’ve worked hard to enhance our football product with broader event coverage, increased in-house pricing, extended market uptime, enriched content, faster settlement, and smarter risk management – demonstrating our continued commitment to strengthening the core of our sportsbook offering.

“These enhancements were instrumental in securing turnkey sportsbook partnerships with several ambitious operators during the 2024/25 season and we look forward to building on this momentum with more innovative product developments lined up for the new 2025/26 campaign.”

The post OddsMatrix announces record performance numbers during 2024/25 football season appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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QTech Games quick to integrate fresh-faced content from Kitsune Studios

Published

8 minutes ago

July 8, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Emerging-markets leader expands its content offering with new games from emerging studio from Hacksaw’s OpenRGS production line

QTech Games, the leading game aggregator for emerging markets, has continued to build the strong momentum in its pipeline, thanks to its latest deal with rising-star supplier, Kitsune Studios, part of the bold OpenRGS studio initiative from Hacksaw Gaming.

Integrating content from such an innovative and well-credentialed studio, founded on Hacksaw’s heritage and expertise, adds yet more creative muscle to QTech Games’ burgeoning platform, which is taking the widest range of online games to emerging territories with established names, such as Playtech and Aviatrix, sitting alongside the industry’s most exciting up-and-coming providers.

The games made available to its partners via the deal include Kitsune’s foundational title, The Library, and its hotly anticipated latest release, Club Cabana.

Kitsune Studios’ designs are premised on play-now vertical screens for optimized gameplay on the go. And while its gaming suite neatly aligns with any device (smartphone, tablet and desktop) it remains mobile-first, a cornerstone of QTech’s proprietary technical platform, affording games providers and operators one of the fastest integration available. Through this aggregation-leading platform, which has sealed its definitive status as a global gaming one-stop shop, clients enjoy the best performance and customer support available, localised to every region across both developing and more mature markets.

The deal organically broadens Manchester-based Kitsune Studios’ international footprint, unlocking untapped jurisdictions for diversified growth from Asia to Africa and Eastern Europe to Latin America, where Kitsune Studios is looking to make a big impression over the coming 12 months.

Philip Doftvik, QTech Games’ CEO, said: “We’re committed to rolling out high-calibre content that drives revenue for our partners. And this deal with Kitsune Studios both extends our impressive sequential pipeline for 2025, and also demonstrates that our diverse portfolio draws from a deep well of established stars and emerging forces in slots provision. We can’t wait to watch how these games perform across a spread of new markets for Kitsune.”

Phillip Douglas, CEO & Founder of Kitsune Studios, added: “At Kitsune, we’re all about pushing what slot games can be — creating immersive experiences that feel fresh, bold, and full of personality. Partnering with QTech gives us an exciting opportunity to share that vision with new players in emerging markets.

“Their smart tech and distribution reach mean our games will land in front of the right audiences — and that’s huge for a growing studio like ours. We’re excited to see how players respond as we continue telling stories and breaking a few rules along the way.”

The post QTech Games quick to integrate fresh-faced content from Kitsune Studios appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Latest News

Stats Perform Named Live Streaming Supplier of the Year at EGR B2B Awards 2025

Published

8 minutes ago

July 8, 2025

George Miller

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Stats Perform has been named Live Streaming Supplier of the Year at the EGR B2B Awards 2025, in recognition of the strength, innovation, and global scale of its Bet LiveStreams platform for licensed sportsbook apps, websites and retail betting venues.

Bet LiveStreams, first launched as ‘Watch&Bet’ in 2005, now delivers more than 40,000 exclusive low-latency live events each year, across 15 sports. Football, the world’s largest betting sport, accounts for more than 15,000 matches, with rights including LaLiga, CONCACAF, English Football League and top domestic leagues and cups across Europe, South America, and APAC. Other sports include tennis, basketball, volleyball, darts, badminton, rugby and cricket.

Judges noted that Stats Perform’s Bet LiveStreams is unique because of its extensive year-long, round-the-clock coverage and high performance. In 2024, the platform securely delivered billions of live video sessions to hundreds of licensed global sportsbooks such as bet365, Betano, Superbet, Betfair, FanDuel and many more.

They also praised its interactive, built-for-betting features like betslip integration, instant highlights, and in-stream contextual stats (also known as Opta Interactive Overlays) that have made the watching and betting experience more engaging for bettors.

“Our focus with Bet LiveStreams has been to make live streams easy to watch and bettable, whoever is playing,” said Mike Perez, Chief Operating Officer at Stats Perform. “The features give bettors more entertainment from every stream, whether it’s a headline fixture like Tottenham v Liverpool in the Carabao Cup, or a six-goal thriller in South America that might otherwise have been overlooked. We’re delighted our efforts have been recognised with this award.”

The judging panel pointed to three standout recent Bet LiveStreams innovations:

Opta Interactive Overlays: Live game and player stats and odds available directly in-stream, with bets added to the slip in one click
Instant Highlights: Key moments can be replayed during the game to help bettors quickly catch up on relevant action, such as the moment their bet won, or see action they missed in other live games, with multi-game playlists across competitions
Live Match Gallery: Easier discovery of concurrent events, helping bettors follow more matches and sports at the same time

Adoption of these features has been fast and operators have reported a 7x increase in interactions per session, longer watch times and more in-play bets placed.

“This award is a reflection of how far streaming can go when it’s built for betting, not just viewing. We’re excited to continue to integrate our Opta data and AI into the experience to make the future of streaming on sportsbooks more engaging, intuitive and bettable,” added Perez.

The post Stats Perform Named Live Streaming Supplier of the Year at EGR B2B Awards 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.