Navigating Compliance Excellence: A Recap of Serve Legal's Age Verification Gambling Forum

In a bid to support the ever developing Gambling and wider age verification industry, Serve Legal recently hosted an Age Verification Gambling Forum. This dynamic event brought together industry leaders, clients, and experts in a collaborative effort to redefine and elevate standards in the gambling sector.

Unveiling Exclusive Market Data

The forum kicked off with a welcome address from our CEO and Co-Founder, Ed Heaver, before our Client and Sales Team gave a detailed review of the Gambling Sector’s Age Verification performance through the lens of Serve Legal’s audit programmes spanning back to 2009. This exclusive reveal of Serve Legal's market data, provided attendees with invaluable insights into the current landscape of age verification in the gambling industry and the 25% compliance increase we have seen since our services began nearly 15 years ago. This data not only shed light on existing challenges but also paved the way for constructive discussions on effective solutions and strategies.

The Serve Legal Community

Our Operations Director, Seth, was able to share Serve Legal’s Responsible Auditor Management Scheme and provide retailers with a wider insight into how their audits are performed day to day. This short session outlined the methods in which our operations team take to prioritise the wellbeing and safeguarding of our auditor community to ensure we are not exposing vulnerable young people to potentially compromising environments.

Our Marketing Team were then able to present key findings from a recent Serve Legal Gambling Survey. With a diverse and highly engaged auditor community of 4,000 current auditors, Serve Legal are able to survey and gather hundreds of insights from targeted demographics within a number of days. Prior to the form, we asked our auditors for their opinions of safer gambling policies and advertising. We were interested to find that 83% of respondents supported the gambling sector moving from the Challenge21 to the Challenge25 policy, to support age verification implementation and reduce underage gambling. This statistic promoted great discussion in the room between attendees.

Technological Advancements

As technology continues to reshape industries, the forum delved into the latest advancements in age verification technology. Serve Legal showcased cutting-edge solutions designed to streamline and enhance age verification processes for retailers. From innovative digital tools to efficient verification methods, participants gained a comprehensive understanding of how technology can be leveraged to ensure compliance without compromising customer experience. This was partnered with the vital industry need to challenge possible technological bias and remind retailers of the importance of thoroughly auditing any technological providers before wider implementation.

Best Practice Workshops: Empowering Retailers

Interactive best practice workshops were a key highlight, providing retailers with points for discussion, some light-hearted activities and games as well as actionable insights to implement in their day-to-day operations. These workshops not only focused on regulatory compliance but also addressed the practical challenges faced by retailers in age verification. Attendees left armed with strategies to strengthen due diligence, data to support the successes of their ongoing efforts and advice to foster a culture of responsible business conduct.

Expert Perspectives: BGC and Betfred Take the Stage

We were thrilled to welcome a number of distinguished guest speakers to the event, namely Alex Roberts from the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and Michael Byrne from Betfred. Both guests were able to share their perspectives on age verification and safer management of due diligence in the gambling sector. Their insights, drawn from extensive industry experience, added a layer of depth to the discussions and underscored the collaborative nature of the event.

Moving Forward: A Commitment to Excellence

Serve Legal's Age Verification Gambling Forum was a brilliant opportunity to bring together stakeholders from various sectors and set the stage for a future where age verification and responsible gambling guidance is not just a compliance requirement but a cornerstone of responsible business practices. As the industry continues to evolve, Serve Legal remains dedicated to supporting retailers on their journey towards compliance excellence.

We concluded the day by highlighting two new service offerings which aim to support retailers:

Responsible Gambling: Our auditors assess staff training impact on interactions and safer gambling guidance, promoting responsible betting and harm reduction.

Retail Experience Audits: Our auditors test and report on customer engagement and retail standards to provide an in-depth report that can support optimisation of retailer’s customer experience.

If you are interested in discussing any of these services with a member of staff, please get in touch via businessenquiries@servelegal.co.uk or reach out to your current client manager.