GVC Announces New Gambling Safeguards as Coronavirus Continues to Spread

As the Coronavirus continues to be a global concern, sports betting group GVC Holdings is seeking to prevent further spread of the outbreak, by providing a secure and safe betting and gaming environment.

SAFETY FIRST
Picking up on the Betting and Gaming Council’s industry approach, GVC has launched supplementary gambling safeguards to improve the overall experience of the player. The gaming group is aiming to deliver products that can be enjoyed as the “safe form of casual entertainment.”

The safety measures have been implemented to ensure that customers do not exceed their financial limits, as individuals are currently in lockdown due to the pandemic. There is an increased risk to gambling issues because the uncertainty of the future can make players feel more depressed or experience financial distress. 

PROACTIVE APPROACH
To protect vulnerable players, the group has decided to take several significant actions and build on its “Changing for the Better” strategy, to provide a safer gambling atmosphere. The new gambling safeguard measures launched by GVC Holdings are:

• Proactive communication with all customers, to remind them to gamble responsibly;
   
• The addition of two new Markers of Harm indicators to the Group’s safer gambling algorithm, in order to identify potentially problematic gambling behaviour at an earlier stage;
   
• Increased responsible gambling messaging on the homepage and throughout all sites;
   
• GVC gaming brands will run responsible gambling-led, multi-channel advertising and marketing campaigns to promote responsible gambling;
   
• Specific guidance and restrictions mandated to all affiliates preventing them from referencing the pandemic or encouraging excessive play due to boredom or isolation.

Kenneth Alexander, CEO of GVC Holdings, commented on the matter: “At this time of unprecedented uncertainty, we are more committed than ever to keeping our customers safe while they enjoy our products. We are hugely sensitive to the potential for increased risk for some who are isolated at home or may have financial difficulties with reduced access to work.

“Our enhanced tools give customers the power to manage their spending and time in an effective way, and we are backing this up by carefully monitoring play through our markers of harm.

“As an industry, we have a clear responsibility to protect the vulnerable and we warmly welcome the coordinated approach announced today by the BGC which provides a template for strengthening player protections.”