Playtechs Responsible Gaming Report: Fresh Perspectives for Latin American Gamblers
Latin America is a diverse region, with a wide array of cultures and gaming practices. The market is projected to be valued at $3.4 billion by 2025, making it crucial to comprehend the desires of players. Playtech, a leading player in the industry, has just unveiled the second installment of its Responsible Gaming Report. This report is packed with valuable insights for businesses aiming to enter this dynamic and lucrative area.
The Latin American market is somewhat enigmatic, posing challenges for companies seeking to navigate it. Different nations are at varying stages of their gambling evolution, with diverse regulations. Argentina has a long-standing history of gambling laws, while countries like Colombia and Peru are still relatively new to the scene. Brazil permits only sports betting.
Playtechs Report: The Top Five Markets in Latin America
Playtechs Responsible Gaming Report examines 21 distinct countries and regions. It concentrates on five of the six largest markets, which boast the most significant populations. These five markets collectively encompass over 680 million individuals.
Playtechs regional business, regulatory, and responsible gaming specialists, Chief Policy Officer Francesco Rodano, Head of Regulatory Affairs Charmaine Hogan, and Regional Director Pedro Extremera believe this document can act as a guide for operators hoping to enter the market.
The Latin American Gaming Industry: Dominating the Market
The Latin American market has long been viewed as the next major market for online gaming, with online gambling now authorized in various forms in most nations within the region. However, despite the rapid growth, there is still a confusing mixture of regulations from nation to nation, and even within Argentina, from province to province.
Latin America is seen as a region with enormous growth potential for numerous reasons. With a large population, a smartphone penetration rate of 73%, and a passion for sports, it’s easy to see why it’s a haven for operators.
Football-Obsessed Brazil
Consider the region’s enduring love for football, for instance. Brazil and eventual champions Argentina were both leading the pre-tournament market for the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar. Their passion for the sport is also reflected in gambling – it is reported that 67% of wagers in Latin America are placed on football.
As with any expanding market in the gambling industry, player safety is always at the forefront of operator strategies.
Playtechs report highlights the critical need for gambling operators to not only educate players about responsible gaming but also to equip them with resources to safeguard themselves. If operators cannot demonstrate their commitment to responsible gambling, they could face hefty fines or even the revocation of their licenses. In the past, European regulatory bodies have levied substantial financial penalties on operators for failing to comply with responsible gambling and anti-money laundering regulations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a significant rise in detrimental gambling practices. It is crucial to comprehend the patterns of gambling behavior to effectively address potential issues. During the pandemic, gambling problems in Latin America escalated, likely due to individuals spending more time at home and online, with reduced social engagements. In Chile, a research study revealed that the proportion of problem gamblers surged from 2.2% in 2018 to 8.3% in 2022. Consequently, how can operators mitigate this upward trend?
Gambling behaviors in Latin America exhibit a wide range of variations. While some preferences are comparable, Playtechs report unveils disparities in gambling habits across five distinct nations. For instance, when queried about their online gambling activities in the preceding six months, 53% of Argentines responded affirmatively. This represented the lowest percentage among the five surveyed countries.
Following closely behind Brazil, at 60%, are Chile (68%), Colombia (75%), and Peru (82%). Rodano clarifies that it is this type of data that makes the report such a useful tool.
“The Responsible Gambling Report findings offer valuable insights that can help industry groups and operators develop and strengthen their responsible gambling and customer experience strategies across Latin America,” he stated. “These insights also provide a nation-by-nation perspective on perceptions in each market, which can be crucial as operators aim to enter the region.”
The report reveals that players’ experiences, and the impact of those experiences, differ from nation to nation. For instance, 52% of Brazilian respondents reported receiving alerts about their gambling amounts; in Argentina, only 16% had the same experience. Cultural variations play a part in both gambling habits and perceptions of responsible gambling – so much so that 60% of Brazilian respondents categorize gambling on legal websites as responsible gambling, while only 29% of Argentinians share the same viewpoint.
This disparity in opinion may be due to the different approaches to gambling in the two nations: Argentina has a long history of regulated legal gambling, while Brazil only recently regulated online sports betting.
These distinctions indicate that gaming firms ought not to employ a uniform, universal strategy for accountable gambling across Latin America, Estremela explained.
Operators can utilize national and consumer segmentation data to construct highly customized accountable gambling programs, promotional strategies, and product offerings to fulfill the specific requirements and habits of each region.
The variety of market behavior is one of the most intriguing findings in the accountable gambling report.
“The significant variations in perception and behavior across the five nations are an intriguing observation,” Estremela continued. “This can be primarily attributed to the fact that each nation is at a different stage of regulatory maturity.
“It should also be noted that Latin America is far from a homogenous region, with many discrepancies in culture, history, economics, and politics. This is also reflected in the diversity of opinions captured in the answers recorded in the report, such as those mentioned previously.”
Online recognition of detrimental behavior
The report emphasizes the necessity for stricter rules, as well as the commitment of operators to prioritize player protection. Operators can learn from other countries that have already experimented with and tested methods of placing accountable gambling at the forefront of the industry. Take the UK, for instance, where a highly anticipated gambling white paper is scheduled to be released this year.
The suggested modifications under consideration emphasize the necessity for operators to implement mandatory data distribution for high-risk clientele, in addition to establishing a maximum wager limit for online slot machine gaming among individuals between the ages of 18 and 24.
With these crucial insights and the conclusions drawn from the Playtech report, Hogan is convinced that operators possess clear direction when venturing into the Brazilian market and the broader Latin American region.
“As Brazil and other Latin American markets mature, we are confident that regulation can play a significant role in establishing a consistent framework to safeguard players within the context of local regulations.
“Simultaneously, operators bear a responsibility, particularly in newly regulated markets, to surpass minimum regulatory standards and continuously enhance their practices to bolster player protection.”
Brazil: A Demanding Market for Online Gaming Operators?
With the advent of a new era of gaming and the anticipated expansion of the nation’s gambling industry, Brazil has the potential to be one of the most profitable opportunities for operators.
However, entering this emerging market also presents challenges, particularly given that reports indicate that respondents from Brazil received the highest number of gambling warnings. Notably, only 13% believe that refraining from spending more than they can afford on gambling is associated with responsible gambling, compared to 53% in Argentina and Colombia, 50% in Peru, and 56% in Chile.
The report’s “gaming duration” information is a vital sign, indicating that operators must implement more effective responsible gambling tactics. Only one in three (32%) Brazilians said they play for a set period each day. This figure was higher in four other nations, with Peru leading at 56%, followed by Colombia (51%), Chile (50%), and Argentina (41%).
These results suggest that operators should establish responsible gambling policies before entering the market, such as setting up alerts for risky behavior or mandatory deposit limits. However, operators are not solely responsible for addressing this issue. Regulations are essential for educating players about harmful gambling, just as they are in Europe.
**Responsible Gambling: Employing Preventive Measures**
Across Latin America, 4% of respondents believed their gambling habits were becoming problematic, while 1% in each of the five countries were certain that gambling was harming them. These figures are certainly concerning.
Rodano explained how operators can tackle this challenge. “Operators can utilize advanced data analytics and technological solutions to effectively identify at-risk players in Latin America,” he stated.
For instance, behavioral analysis instruments can be specifically trained to recognize and highlight patterns and indications of problematic conduct, not only for each nation but also for each operator working within that nation.
## Information on Player Safeguards
One in three individuals surveyed in Latin America stated they received alerts regarding their gambling activities, with the highest number in Brazil.
The kinds of alerts differ, depending on how the individual desires to receive them. According to Playtech’s report, the most common method is through pop-up notifications, with 38% of individuals choosing to receive them on-screen. Emails and text messages are also more favored than screen freezes or phone calls, suggesting that individuals prefer less disruptive ways of receiving messages.
Despite the various ways messages are delivered, only 8% of individuals stated they stopped gambling immediately after receiving an alert, while another 31% stated they paused or reduced their gambling as a result. Since 26% of individuals in Latin America still stated alerts did not cause them to change their behavior, gambling enterprises need to consider taking more steps to promote responsible gambling.
Rodano explains: “One of the positive aspects of utilizing analytics and messaging together is that gambling companies can utilize information from analytics to understand what is causing individual players to take risks and then send messages based on how risky they are.”
Individuals are more inclined to embrace and discover value in customized information and actions designed specifically for them, as opposed to generic data. This makes them more effective in aiding players in making more prudent gambling decisions.
The gambling industry’s technological advancements are continuously progressing to promote safer gambling practices. Playtech’s report underscores the significance of these technologies in pinpointing players who might be at risk.
Timeouts, periods of reflection, self-exclusion, and deposit limitations are merely a few of the options accessible to players. However, despite the availability of these tools, their utilization across the industry remains limited. This underscores the necessity for operators to identify and interact with these players, as Rodano elucidates.
“Technological advancements and data analytics can assist us in evaluating risk factors within substantial groups of individuals. By consistently monitoring behavior and analyzing it, we can pinpoint emerging issues and risky patterns. This aids operators in effectively engaging with players before situations escalate.”
Playtech and BetBuddy
Playtech firmly believes that technology is essential for recognizing these trends and comprehends the need to invest in protective technology, particularly its BetBuddy platform.
“Our BetBuddy platform leverages sophisticated player analytics and machine learning to identify risky patterns,” states Rodano.
Our offerings can assist in customizing interventions at the outset and precisely identify risk pathways based on a broad spectrum of behavioral traits.
BetBuddy stands out due to its provision of explanations regarding the individual risk factors that influence player evaluations. This enables operators to react in a customized and interactive fashion, bolstering player protection.
Authorities should assume a more prominent role in safe gambling practices. While technology can aid the industry in enforcing responsible gambling conduct, regulation and governmental participation are equally essential. Thirty-six percent of respondents across five nations believe their governments should take more action to mitigate the hazards associated with gambling. This figure is most pronounced in Colombia, where forty percent of respondents believe the government needs to enhance its efforts.
Only a small fraction (ten percent) believe their governments are adequately addressing the risks of harmful gambling. This poses a challenge for officials and regulatory entities. Fostering confidence among players regarding a secure online environment will enhance the player experience, benefiting both players and operators. Playtech considers this matter of paramount importance.
Hogan clarified that the organization is dedicated to aiding decision-makers, industry associations, and operators in crafting tailored market plans to encourage accountable expansion throughout Latin America.
Hogan highlighted that each nation possesses distinct traits, necessitating a personalized strategy to address the specific characteristics of national and consumer groups. This customized approach will be instrumental in capitalizing on opportunities presented by sustainable business practices.
“The sector should prioritize a sustainable long-term outlook, balancing profitability with the significance of safety, consumer safeguarding, and accountable gaming, while acknowledging regional disparities and fulfilling their requirements.”
The Trajectory of Responsible Gaming in Latin America
The report discloses that the industry continues to expand at an accelerated rate. Nearly 70% of survey participants had placed a wager within the past six months, a notable increase from 53% in the preceding report. As the global landscape increasingly emphasizes Know Your Customer (KYC) in other regions like Europe, Latin American players will soon demand this mechanism as well.
As more nations within the region implement regulations, scrutiny and interest in how the industry safeguards players will undoubtedly become a focal point. The Responsible Gambling Report offers valuable insights to assist operators in comprehending current and emerging challenges, risks, and opportunities, and how they can effectively enter and compete within the Latin American market.
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