first time but every time also when they log in online. And then you’re automatically checked against a list to see if you are an excluded player. For example, if you have excluded yourself, if you are in a collective debt settlement, or if someone else has excluded you, perhaps against your will if you’re a person with a gambling addiction. So we check and therefore the data is processed either way, so that there is a form of KYC built into the law that operators have to comply with. We’re looking to make this even stronger by forcing operators online to use data from the bank or either from the national identity card system to make sure that there’s no player accounts with false names being created. But, that’s a few ways that they’ve built the KYC part into the gambling law. JK: Gabrielle, what do you think from a US perspective, because in the land-based world, we don’t really have the same level of KYC. We don’t register players when they enter a casino. So do you think that this is a tool that can that can help enhance KYC in a land based casino environment? GA: Absolutely. I think you’re going to find a friction point with those who want to remain anonymous in a casino, you know, maybe they they’ll be turned away from using an app like that. But I think, from a regulatory perspective, anytime that you can enhance KYC checks you’re protecting the integrity of the industry. I even saw that New Jersey just made a set of proposed rule changes, and one of them included a section of amendments. Now, if a patron is on a casino floor, or in a sports betting location, and they log on to their app, to either place a bet or make a deposit – and the threshold is set pretty low, around $500 – the venue is required to physically validate their ID and capture an image of them. So those things are already coming up, especially with the online world. With KYC requirements, you’re losing anonymity in the online space and I think it’s starting to trickle down into the land-based space as we connect online with land based. JK: Alright, let’s talk a little bit about marketing and using multichannel as a marketing tool. If, for example, I’m playing slots online, and I have my favorite slot game, and then I wander into a casino and want the land based version of that same game, I imagine I may get a pop up on my app saying ‘hey, we know you like such and such a slot game, turn to your left and there’s a machine right there’ Is that how the marketing component is going to work? AL: Maybe we should employ you in our R&D department because this is exactly what happens. And, of course, marketing is important. We want to channelize the players into our segments. And that’s one tool. Of course, we know if they like certain games, and then of course, we try to offer the best player experience. And that’s a part of it too. And also, big data is very important. And finally this can then be used also for player protection measures. So, it’s marketing, yes, it’s needed, it’s required. But also, these technical solutions are very helpful for player protection. So both elements are beneficial and will benefit from that technology. JVD: From the Belgian perspective, I’m not the marketing guy, so I can’t go into too much detail, but some strict rules were recently imposed. A royal decree entered into force that limited advertising very strictly, so only forms explicitly allowed by law are allowed. Things like popups, or push notifications on the phone would no longer be allowed for gambling apps. There’s also strict limitations on things like bonuses or incentives. These are prohibited in land based, but our courts have extended this to online as well. So the concept of a bonus or a gift is clearly defined in the real world. But it’s sometimes not clear whether that applies to online to, for example, loyalty programs, ultra boosts, cashbacks, what have you, but there are very strict rules. So maybe some of the tricks or techniques that omnichannel brings, could not be applied in some markets, including the Belgian one. AL: May I add quickly, something which is I think, important now. It’s very much discussed, of course, prohibition of advertising and how to regulate that. But it’s important to note that advertising is also important to channelize gambling into the regulated market. And I think that’s very important to consider also for regulators, because gray or black market providers, they don’t care about any prohibitions. GA: The US, as we all know, is quite different from Europe and we don’t have advertising bans, There are some restrictions, and there have been some states like Ohio where the governor came out swinging when they launched and he was very unhappy with the advertising. They fined a lot of the operators and so you’ll have the one-off situations,
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