GTECHDIRECT®
 
Special Edition Responsible Gaming Page 3 What the Future Holds Page 4 Corporate Social Responibility Page 1
 
 
Lotteries continually strive to ensure their players have a positive playing experience, yet some recent high-profile incidents have refocused the industry’s attention on the cornerstone of the lotteries’ traditional reputation for integrity, trust, and stewardship.
  1. •In October 2006, an Ontario TV station broadcast a report alleging that lottery retailers and their employees were winning big prizes at a rate much higher than the general public. Following this report, ALC, OLC, and BCLC have been scrutinized by auditing firms and ombudsmen, essentially reinforcing this conclusion.
  2. •On June 26, 2007, FDJ, the French lottery company La Française des Jeux, also experienced an incident with two Paris shopkeepers and another person after they allegedly scammed a player out of their Euromillions ticket and collected €33 million (US$44 million).
As depicted in the Corporate Social Responsibility graphic, the approaches toward addressing consumer protection involve both best practices and solutions.  In the sidebar (shown on page 3) we highlight the top best practice initiatives that lotteries can implement quickly and that don’t require any major or minor technical development.
GTECH’s (and our customers’) response to consumer protection is focused in two areas:  Detection/Monitoring and Self Validation.
  1. •Detection/Monitoring – Using the power of your existing systems to capture data and analyze it to determine if consumer fraud may be taking place and to enable corrective action to be taken. Reports that examine sales volume versus claims quantity, late claims/validations, and excessive validations/cancellations are used to determine if an issue may exist.
  2. •Self Validation – Allowing players to determine if they are a winner without requiring assistance from a retailer.
GTECH’s primary solution for Self Validation is Ticket-Scan (see sidebar below).  This device connects to the lottery terminal and works with Isys®, Spectra, and Altura® terminals.  The solution is, in most cases, used for both online and instant ticket win checking. The Ticket-Scan™ can display winning messages and can optionally also display the actual value of the player’s win.
 
Consumer Protection - Prevention through Best Practice
As  an industry leader, it was important to GTECH to develop a set of Best Practices to help our customers reach the level of appropriate CSR efforts in their own jurisdictions. Our recommendations are as follows:
Player Focused Best Practices
  1. •Sign Before Validating – Remind all lottery players on official lottery websites, public announcements, and signage at retailer locations to sign the back of their lottery tickets before presenting for validation.  Most sites support variable messages on the tickets – occasionally reinforce the message to always sign their tickets by including the message on their normal ticket.
  2. •Formal Complaint Process – Establish a formal consumer complaint process so players can report suspicious behavior directly to a Lottery Security and Compliance unit.  Publicize via web, POS materials, messages.  Most importantly – follow through on complaints.
Retailer Focused Best Practices
  1. •Retailer Training/Communication – As part of initial and recurring training, it must be emphasized that retailers must be completely ethical, that they will be monitored, and in the event of actual violations, will be dealt with as severely as possible (to include prosecution). The Lottery should consider sending out messages weekly via their terminals, signage, and other communication media reminding retailers and clerks of their contractual obligations for appropriate prize payment responsibilities.
  2. •Strict and Publicized Enforcement - Ensure that any single proven case of illegal activity or fraud results in the automatic termination of the lottery-retailer (owner) relationship. Such terminations should be highlighted in the retailer newsletter so that all retailers understand the consequences of such actions.
  3. •Retailer Screening/Licensing – Review the current procedures surrounding retailer licensing and conduct background checks to determine if more due diligence, such as third party investigations, should take place.
  4. •Formal Complaint Process – Create a process for retailers to be able report any suspicious behavior directly to a Lottery Security and Compliance unit.
  5. •Retailer Claims – If not already implemented, claims by retailers should be specially marked as such.  In the event of a retailer claim, extended processes should be established, such as automatically initiating a review of all prior claims.
  6. •Retailer Site Inspection – Inspect each retailer sale location – is the customer display unit properly oriented? Is the area free and clear of any miscellaneous tickets?
Communication Best Practices
  1. •Media Response – Create a plan and have materials to address any potential media scrutiny (“the best defense is a good offense”).  Identify the steps being taken, the avenues open to players to file complaints, etc.  
  2. •Issue Annual Report – Prepare and release an annual Security and Compliance report that addresses how the jurisdiction monitors for illegal retailer activity.  Such reports should be reviewed by an external auditor.  Such reports could be issued to another government regulatory body associated with proper treatment of consumers.
  3. •Communicate with Peers – All lottery directors are encouraged to contact each other to have an open discussion on how they are approaching this type of situation and share best practices.
Consumer Protection From Detection & Monitoring to Prevention
An Immediate Solution: Self Validation through
Ticket-Scan™
Worldwide, we have more than 60,000 Ticket-Scan (formerly Express Point™ Plus) devices deployed across 22 jurisdictions with a limited number outside the US.  
What is Ticket-Scan?
Ticket-Scan is a compact device that connects to the online lottery terminal at the point-of-sale.
#1 Benefit of Ticket-Scan?
It enables retailers to concentrate on selling, while players check their lottery tickets at their own convenience.
What are Ticket Scan’s Enhanced Messaging Capabilities?
The device can actually determine the amount of winnings for an online ticket and then display this winning amount in the message response to the player.
Benefit of Ticket-Scan with Enhanced Messaging?
Not only tells a player that they have won, but also the amount, so the retailer cannot give them a lesser amount.