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Kindred Plays Open Cards Regarding Progress on Project Zero
By Shane Addinall Jul 31, 2021 IndustryWith less than three years to reduce all gambling-related revenues to zero, the Kindred Group cannot afford to see this figure increase and not decrease. Yet that is what happened in Q2 2021. Join us as we find the silver lining to this poor result.When it comes to implementing new projects and setting lofty goals the Kindred Group - known for such brands as Unibet casino, 32Red and Maria casino - is proving to have a fantastic appetite for bold claims and then owning their success or failure along the way.
Not only are they actively pursuing a long-term project of developing casino games with 98% RTPs as a way to protect players from unnecessary losses but February 2021 saw them announce their vision of deriving 0% of their gaming revenue from high-risk players.
Moving forward from there they intend to open the system that made it all possible up to other gambling operations to help them achieve the same zero harm result.
Playing The Long Game
While many online gambling companies may desire to derive 100% of their revenues from safe and happy gamblers not many would have the courage to announce that they are working towards it and to then add a timeline to the goal.
When setting out the roadmap for “Project Zero” the management at Kindred set the end of December 2023 as their target. This gave the company a sum total of thirty-five months within which to develop the people and systems needed to eradicate the monetisation of harmful gambling!
The core of their arsenal in addressing this mammoth task is their in-house player monitoring and risk assessment tool, PS-EDS (Player Safety Early Detection System). Building on the globally recognised Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM 5) Kindred have created an early warning and interventions system that is aimed at marrying financial and behavioural data:
“By combining principles from the PGSI and DSM 5, PS-EDS not only takes into account financial criteria but also behavioural indicators allowing us to better detect harmful gambling in the online environment.”
They believe that by learning to recognise and respond to behavioural triggers they will be more likely to address financial losses before they occur.
Appreciate the Ebb and Flow
Looking back over the data from the first five months of Project Zero there has been some early success which appears to have been eroded in June but Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group, is positive about their progress overall saying:
“During the past quarter, we have continued to see a positive and constructive dialogue across the industry in terms of achieving a more sustainable gambling market. Ensuring that the discussion continues to take place and that it is fact-based, is vital if we are to achieve the ambition, we have set. Despite our revenue increasing slightly this quarter, which is an expected fluctuation, we remain dedicated and focused on our journey towards zero”
The slight increase Tjärnström is referring to is a shift that shows an increase in harmful gambling revenue from 3.9% in May to 4.3% in June.
When questioned on the reasons behind this undesirable increase in revenue Maris Catania, Head of Responsible Gaming & Research, explained that it is a rather positive step forward for the company in terms of its technology and human resource development:
“Our monitoring system, PS-EDS, is being constantly updated and improved, and therefore we have seen an increase in the customers detected. Our Responsible Gambling teams are working on being more proactive and taking faster action from detection to intervention.”
Catania went on to elaborate on their plans for evolving PS-EDS from a tool that is used to trigger interventions manually to one that is AI-driven and uses an extensive data set to communicate with potential problem gamblers automatically.
With their desire to have PS-EDS become the tool of choice for online casinos to reduce their harmful gambling footprint to 0% the implementation of AI-driven customer contacts, exclusion programs and other forms of intervention is vitally important.
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