Kindred renews EPIC Risk Management partnership as share of revenue from harmful gambling increases in Q3

Kindred Group published on Tuesday the share of revenue coming from harmful gambling in its report for Q3, with the total amounting to 3.8% and the improvement effect decreasing to 82.6%. The number was slightly up from 3.3% in the comparable period last year.

During the quarter, efforts were placed on further developing automated technological solutions to detect and engage with customers at risk. The company has now announced a new collaboration with EPIC Risk Management with the intention to propel early intervention.

We became the 1st operator to report its share of the revenue from high-risk players showing signs of harmful gambling

We aim to increase transparency and facilitate a fact-based debate.

Full article:https://t.co/wgLQEIDGyT#KindredGroup #JourneyToZero #SustainableGambling pic.twitter.com/rsqdeZIVgy

— Kindred Group (@KindredGroup) October 25, 2022

"Focus continues to be on improving internal processes and utilizing the technological capacity to automate interventions and thereby improve close to real-time capability to further engage with the customer at an earlier stage," the company said of its efforts to lower the harmful gambling share.

In a press release, the company explained that "reaching the ambition by the end of the fourth quarter next year is challenging, however, Kindred remains fully dedicated to achieving its ambition of zero percent revenue from high-risk customers."

* 90 days rolling period between 21 June and 19 September 2022 

The group further identified four critical areas to keep working on:

• 1.  Shortening the time from detection to intervention as it is proven that raising awareness to customers early on is an effective way to stay in control;
• 2.  Continued investment in and collaboration with researchers to further understand gambling behaviors;
• 3.  Ensuring control tools are visible, understood, and used in the right way;
• 4.  Improving transparency and knowledge sharing within the industry, customers, researchers, regulators, and partners.

Henrik Tjärnström

Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group, said: "We have not seen a desired sequential development this quarter, however, we have taken significant steps forward since launching our ambition in 2021. We have strengthened internal processes and aligned operations to continue our Journey towards Zero revenue from harmful gambling."

"We will continue to improve our technology and processes so that we increase our efficiency and speed in detecting and engaging with customers at risk. We know this has a positive effect. For the third quarter almost 83 percent of detected customers improved their behavior after we reached out to them," the CEO noted.

During the third quarter, the group partnered once again with EPIC Risk Management to analyze and improve human intervention mechanisms. Through the collaboration, the group aims to ensure that manual interventions are better placed and motivate customers into healthier betting behavior.

Of the partnership, Dan Spencer, Director of Safer Gambling, EPIC Risk Management, said: "I am delighted to be renewing and extending our partnership with Kindred over the next three years. Kindred was the first operator that we worked with, and they continue to show their commitment towards player protection by placing value in lived experience voices."

"Kindred has shown great ambition in reducing revenue from high-risk players and this partnership will ensure that EPIC remains part of that journey by providing industry-leading consultation services," Spencer added.

Dan Spencer

"We are on a long-term journey and our commitment goes beyond the end of 2023, but collaborations here and now like the one with EPIC are crucial for our future progress. They provide unique insights from which we can learn the best approach to manage gambling-related harm from an individual perspective," Tjärnström noted.

"We have always emphasized how important our work with stakeholders from research, treatment centers, and lived experience is. The collaboration with EPIC continues to highlight how these collaborations can help us reach our customers in a better way. I am grateful and proud to have this long-term collaboration with EPIC Risk Management", the CEO concluded.