TransUnion firm iovation is responding to anticipated challenges in the US sports wagering sector around fraud, age verification and self-exclusion by launching a new package of solutions. The product suite focuses around the onboarding of new players and helps US online gambling operators comply with new regulations, combat fraud and improve the player experience. 

The company has produced its prognostication based on experience drawn from the European market during the past 15 years supporting over 100 operators and platform providers there including eight of the world’s 10 largest gambling infrastructure providers.

“The online gambling gold rush today in the US is akin to what we saw nearly two decades ago when iovation first began working with European operators as countries there began to legalize online gambling,” said the company’s Co-Founder Greg Pierson

“With states legalizing online gambling and the American fantasy football season kicking off, operators are sprinting to launch apps and websites. They are putting most of their efforts into getting users with less emphasis on preventing gambling issues.”

Among the specific issues that iovation anticipates for US gambling operators is age verification. In all states, the legal online gambling age is 21. Much like anything else where there is an age limit, underage people are going to try and participate warned the firm.

It also highlighted bonus abuse. Many online gambling companies provide incentives like money or credit for betting to attract new players and grow existing relationships. But often, fraudsters exploit these programs which result in real losses for operators. iovation said it has seen bonus abuse rise by 287% from 2015 to 2018.

The firm added that since 2014 credit card fraud related to online gambling – predominantly outside the US had risen by 155% with an average annual growth of 39%. It also cited self-exclusion as a further challenge facing operators.

iovation has a service provider license in Nevada, with many partners operating in the United States. This includes SBTech which will power online sports betting in iovation’s home state for the Oregon State Lottery‘s new sports betting brand, “Scoreboard.”

“SBTech puts player protection and anti-money laundering at the heart of our platform operations for our partners in regulated regions across the US, Europe and emerging markets,” said Andrew Cochrane, the firm’s Chief Development Officer. “Thanks to our expanded partnership with iovation, these partners now have access to the industry’s most advanced device recognition technology enabling them to instantly identify and authorize verified players and significantly reduce levels of potential fraud.”

The US gambling solution offerings available through iovation and TransUnion combine iovation’s digital identity solutions that uses device behavior and TransUnion’s identity verification solutions, helping to protect the entire player journey.