ClearStake: Affordability check concerns have been “blown out of the water”
Supplier claims consensus is “mistaken” and that customers will engage with financial risk assessments willingly
ClearStake has claimed the notion gamblers will revolt against affordability checks has been “blown out of the water” after its partnership with MrQ showed a majority of users agreed to provide financial data.
The AML and financial check supplier announced last week that 55% of MrQ customers were submitting financial data via their banking app to pass threshold checks.
The firm described the result as “remarkable”, with the group doubling down on its comments via a blog from chief marketing officer (CMO) Tom Farrell, posted Friday, 10 May.
Anecdotal references and commentary from listed UK-facing operators has pointed to a decline in revenue due to customers deciding to take their business elsewhere after being hit with affordability checks.
However, ClearStake, which secured a seven-figure funding round in February that featured senior execs at Flutter and PointsBet, maintained these fears are overstated.
Pointing to the results from MrQ, Farrell said the operator had proven the “entire school of thought is mistaken” when it comes to attitudes to financial risk checks.
As part of his bullish outlook, the marketing chief added that the checks would give way to a “significant uptick on revenues, without compromising one inch on player safety”.
Farrell remarked: “Operators have generally been so unsuccessful at getting players to complete financial checks that an entire set of justifications for this failure has taken root.
“We all know the lines: players won’t agree to these checks. They are an invasion of privacy. Even when players are willing to engage, they are too costly and complex for both parties involved. And so on.
“The time for excuses is over. The idea that players will not perform these checks has been blown out of the water. If you have been telling yourself that it just isn’t worth it, because players won’t do it, you need to stop and think again.
“Now is the time to act, before more progressive operators make the effort steal your best customers, which is what anyone performing these checks is by definition,” he added.
As detailed in the Gambling Commission’s response to financial risk checks, the regulator has laid out a pilot scheme for higher-level checks which will involve data-sharing from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
As part of that response, the regulator has confirmed low-level checks will kick in in August at a £500 monthly net deposit before falling to £125 in February.