SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Industry design, innovation and software development agency Degree 53 has published its latest ‘UX Review’ focusing on evaluating the impact of new age and identity verification processes, enforced by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) in May this year.
The report assesses how incumbents have approached the challenge of adjusting/addressing to the UKGC’s customer age verification requirements from a customer UX and usability angle.
Furthermore, Degree 53’s review provides operators with advise on optimisation best practices and priorities which operators can implement in order to tackle the diverse UX challenges faced onboarding customers.
Degree 53 has reviewed the customer journey’s of leading bookmakers Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and bet365 among others to find out how betting incumbents have dealt with the new rules.
The UX agency further assesses key variables such as access to information and tools provided by bookmakers to support customers verification procedures.
Benefitting industry stakeholders, Degree 53 report provides an in-depth overview on the different strategies undertaken by operators to meet their new verification dynamics.
Jade Daniels, Design Director at Degree 53, said: “The new age and identity verification procedure has completely changed the whole acquisition process for some customers. Many don’t expect to provide their ID or proof of address as soon as they join, and they might struggle to find these documents straight away.
“This means that it can delay their betting or gaming activities or put them off completely if the verification process is unclear. It’s a tricky thing to balance and get right for the punter, as well as for compliance. Regardless of the regulation, it’s important to offer as much guidance as possible to customers to make their journey simpler.
“We’ve seen good ways of approaching this and those that require further work to make it absolutely clear. Something as simple as inputting the wrong date of birth because of a cumbersome dropdown while registering can really affect the choice of operator for customers if they experience obstacles. Regulations shouldn’t prevent online gambling businesses from developing new ideas, and our reports show different examples of how it can be done.”
