Self-exclusion is one of the key pillars used to address problem gambling. But sometimes regulatory requirements make the process unwieldy and time-consuming.
A new product created by iProtekt aims to streamline the self-exclusion process for players (especially igaming wagerers), regulators, and operators. The company’s iExclude provides players with one-click access to register for self-exclusion and reduces the time regulators and operators need to process self-exclusion requests.
“There is no unified approach,” says iProtekt CEO and Co-Founder Bryan Price,” which is why we built iExclude, making a very complex process very simple.”
The iProtekt team spent two years developing the platform, which is scalable across all U.S. states where gambling is legal, and also available to global jurisdictions.
Price emphasizes the platform’s ability to “scale globally. With our tech stack, we wanted to satisfy the dynamic regulatory and environment needs and provide a solution to whatever requirements are in each state or in each country.
When a player clicks on the iexclude.me link, it takes them to information about the jurisdiction where they are located. Visitors are asked to provide the requested length of their self-exclusion and when they want the term to begin.
“Rather than having people sifting through every division gaming or government website, this is one place to do it,” Price says, adding that iExclude enables a player to self-exclude from every state. “That’s one of the current complexities of current self-exclusion. If I’m in Tennessee right now and I want to self-exclude, I can only self-exclude in the state of Tennessee. If I travel to another state, I could log into my gambling apps and continue (to wager). So it really doesn’t solve the problem fully. Our intention is building a national exclusion product.”
According to Price, iExclude streamlines the self-exclusion process for regulators. The platform reviews applications, checks identifications, and notifies operators in a jurisdiction to exclude self-exclusion applicants.
“With iExclude, we have enabled that process in real-time,” he says. “As soon as somebody submits an application, they are immediately activated to be self-excluded. … If somebody’s gambling at two or three in the morning and they’ve identified that they’ve had enough, they’re going to go online, submit their form and have to wait until somebody approves it. Whereas with iExclude, as soon as you submit it, you are excluded.”
iExclude makes identification processes more efficient for operators through a verification feature that uses government databases. For Tribal operators, iExclude will be able to identify and help both online and brick-and-mortar players who want to self-exclude.
“If a tribe has land-based casinos and individual signs up, then that individual will be blocked on apps as well as the land-based casino,” Price says. “So, tribes are a big area of focus for us to help on that front, and also account for land-based casinos. I’m not sure anything else does that.”
Price states that the platform slashes by 90 percent the time employees work on self-exclusion issues.
“We wanted this to be so cost effective that it would be hard to say no,” Price says. “It’s automated, so it doesn’t require a ton of work on divisions. However, with this process, we still give authority to divisions to manage what’s happening in their state. So, it’s much easier than what current systems are.”