Kindred has reported that its share of revenue from harmful gambling has dropped to 3.3% in the fourth quarter of 2022 following an “improved approach towards the younger demographic, reducing harmful gambling and improving existing interventions.”
The decrease occurred in Q4 as the company began two separate initiatives, one on disclosing data and the other being the Journey towards Zero panel.
However, the group has also noted that the journey to 0% revenue from harmful gambling is “longer and more challenging than first expected.”
In Q4, Kindred’s share of revenue from harmful gambling currently stands at 3.3%, a decrease from the 3.8% declared in Q3, and the 4% reported in Q4 2021.
The company noted that this decrease was “due to an improved approach towards the younger demographic, reducing harmful gambling and improving existing interventions, resulting in fewer faulty customer detections.”
It also stated that the drop was “a positive deviation from the trend, as the last quarter of the year generally sees an increase in high-risk gambling due to the holiday season.”
However, from a journey to 0% revenue generated from harmful gambling that began in February 2021, Kindred added that while improvements are happening, the task at hand is “longer and more challenging than first expected.”
The company also noted that 82.1% of detected customers saw improved gambling behavior after being contacted by its responsible gambling team during Q4, in line with levels from previous quarters.
“I’m glad to see that the share of revenue from harmful gambling is once again on a downward trajectory. However, as we review the trend over these past two years, it is clear that there is still significant fluctuation and that the curve has not been as steadily declining as we hoped,” commented Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group.
“While we have put in a lot of hard work, we have not seen the development needed to deliver on our 2023 ambition. Despite this, we remain firmly committed to our Journey towards Zero, and to do the heavy lifting needed to reach this ambition.
“We have known from the beginning that we would not solve this overnight and continue to acknowledge the complexity of the task. That being said, we are very happy that we set an ambitious goal, as it has served as a catalyst for our development and prompted us to pick up the pace.
“It’s also pleasing to see how the ambition we set two years ago has inspired the industry to become more transparent on this topic. The initiative we presented together with ATG and Svenska Spel in October 2022, with all three companies publicly disclosing joint responsible gambling data in January 2023, is a testament to this. I hope we can see similar initiatives and collaborations across more markets.”
Kindred Journey towards Zero panel
As part of its efforts, Kindred has created the Journey towards Zero panel, a pilot project driven by a UK team made up of a diverse range of expert organizations from across the gambling community and lived experience.
With initial members of BetKnowMore, DealMeOut, EPIC Risk Management, and Maris Catania – Advisor on Responsible Gambling at Kindred Group – the panel will help Kindred stay on track and improve its progress on its Journey towards Zero, including assessing its PS-EDS system (Player Safety – Early Detection).
“EPIC have been working with Kindred for some years now and recently extended that partnership to provide expert insight and consultation to help their Journey towards Zero,” stated Daniel Spencer, Director of Safer Gambling at EPIC Risk Management.
“We want operators to be ambitious in their safer gambling endeavors and encourage collaboration across the industry to achieve this. We are delighted to be able to provide this further consumer insight that ultimately will lead to better player protection.”
Jordan Lea, CEO of DealMeOut, added: “The Journey towards Zero Panel is a groundbreaking and important piece of work. It is an honor to support it, and it will be an excellent opportunity for many with a wealth of experience from across the sector to ensure Kindred are best equipped to prevent gambling harm.”
