Entain makes affordability pledge with a data-driven approach

Deepening its commitment to affordability and social responsibility, Entain confirmed the completion of the initial stage of its preventative approach to customer protection, known as ARC (Advanced Protection and Care)

As an initial outcome, the company has significantly extended behavioral indicators used to identify players potentially at risk and is now developing models using more than three times the previous amount.

Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Chief Executive of Entain, commented: “ARC is fundamental to our future strategy for sustainability and growth. We are putting customers first, both by prioritising their safety through our use of technology to limit individual exposure to risk, whilst also enhancing their experience across all our brands.  

“We will do this not only in our traditional markets of sports betting and gaming, but also as we grow into new areas, like videogaming and esports as a global entertainment company.” 

As part of the roll out, Entain outlined that ARC will offer ‘unprecedented safeguards’ for customers of its online sports betting and gaming brands, as it seeks to halt problems prior to them arising. 

“We’re using our technology, leveraging our data and behavioral science, to deliver a fundamental shift in customer care,” said Peter Marcus, Entain Group Operations Director, who is overseeing the development of ARC. “The real innovation is to apply hyper-personalisation, to customer protection – using insight into the individual behaviors of customers to manage their exposure to risk in real time.”

Since 2018, Entain has monitored customers using markers of protection based on factors such as frequency of play, changes in spend patterns and length of time of online play. The new markers being trialed include additional checks on, fluctuations in stake levels, erratic play during a single session and signs that a player might be chasing losses. These were identified as potential danger signs by world-leading academics and gambling support groups taking part in scientific workshops held by Entain earlier this year.

Entain will launch ARC first in the UK in the summer, offering real-time online player protection for customers across all its brands and products, and plans to roll it out internationally from later in the year.