As depicted in the Corporate Social Responsibility graphic – Responsible Gaming encompasses three major areas:

A major issue that lotteries face today is the enforcement of age verification. With the popularity of self-service lottery terminals on the rise, it is becoming more of a challenge to ensure underage play is not occurring. Many retailers are opting to keep their self-service terminals in their direct line of sight, so that they can monitor their customers’ purchases. Internet- based play now sometimes requires an individual to enter personal identification and address information in order to verify they are of the legal playing age. While these efforts are growing and becoming more of a priority for many lotteries, there is a great deal of work that still needs to be done.

Like ProSys®, GTECH Enterprise Series (ES) is also at the heart of our customers’ business operations. It provides access to both high-level and detailed information, enabling our customers to monitor gaming at the player, retail, and game level. The powerful ES Reporting suite of tools allows for detailed analysis of games, retailers, and players to determine if action needs to be taken or to provide information to third-party organizations. In  addition to monitoring player behavior and providing customers with important information concerning responsible gaming, ES provides customers with essential tools to enable them to control gaming in a timely manner. For example, if a customer determines that a retailer is consistently violating local regulations on underage play, ES gives the customer the ability to disable all lottery functionality. ES also enables customers to implement system-wide sales limits on daily sales for all games or just for specific games.

The popularity of consumer membership cards for vendors across all industries has significantly increased over the past few years. Whether it’s a consumer’s CVS ExtraCare Card, gym membership card, or a Borders Book Rewards card, their use is widespread.  After a simple registration form is completed, each consumer’s purchases are automatically documented. The use of such membership cards (player cards) and player registration have also increasingly become seen as a viable tool to promote CSR efforts in the lottery industry.

Traditionally, playing the lottery has been an entirely anonymous activity. With the advent of commercial loyalty programs several years ago, some lotteries introduced the concepts of player cards and subscriptions. Over time, they realized that it was good business to have players register for these services, as a means of collecting critical demographic and player preference data. Online lotteries now use this information to fine-tune their game portfolio, market communications, and promotional budget.

In jurisdictions where interactive gaming is permitted, lotteries require that players register to ensure age and residency verification, set up stored-value accounts to fund lottery play from personal financial instruments, and deliver player- and lottery-managed responsible gaming controls.

In general, players are cautious about yielding personal information to the government or perceived government agencies regarding gaming. GTECH is exploring opportunities to see if players are willing to exchange personal information for perceived value.

Once the lottery authenticates the registration, the player is eligible to place automated wagers. Examples of automated wagering include: playing favorite numbers at an authorized retail location with a player card, ordering a subscription over the Internet, or sending an SMS text message from a phone to wager on a sporting event. Validating the registration prior to the electronic wager being placed ensures that the player satisfies the lottery’s age, residency, and any other local requirements.

In addition, registration enables both the player and the lottery to set and enforce spending controls that comply with local requirements. Such limits would be set in place for a certain period of time. Maximum limits could either be set by the player or set by the lottery on behalf of the player. Players would have the ability to set their own limits, either completely on their own or up to the lottery-suggested maximum.  In either case, players would be allowed to make changes to their limits if they desired via the Internet.  

Many jurisdictions are exploring the concept of player registration, however some lotteries, including Norway, have already made it mandatory. Others, like Svenska Spel in Sweden, have successfully implemented optional player registration programs. In contrast, primarily because of federal statutes that prohibit electronic wagering, US lotteries offer very little, if any, registered play.

Time limits that force players to limit how long they will play. This feature requires players to cash out at the end of each time period, rather than allowing for continuous play, thus creating a break in play, consistent with responsible gaming best practices.