Corporate Social Responsibility
Sportingbet’s market position is in the mass appeal, recreational and low staking sector. The Company’s objective is to provide a “protected entertainment environment” in which its customer care programmes give responsible adults the confidence of knowing that their money is safe whilst providing the Company with the confidence that all reasonable steps are being taken to protect the vulnerable.
Customers
As a service business the core of Sportingbet’s policies on social responsibility lie in its approach to its customers. All operational directors and their brand managers are committed to winning and retaining the trust and loyalty of their users.
The guiding principle behind Sportingbet’s policies can be summarised as “Know Your Customer.” Procedures to achieve this mean far more than merely collecting documentary evidence of peoples’ identities. It is about understanding their individual requirements, appreciating concerns and closely researching their patterns of behaviour.
As an online business with sophisticated software interfaces, building a picture of individual customers is far easier and far more effective than for bricks and mortar gaming companies. Knowing one’s customers and creating profiles of their activities and preferences lead to targeted and appropriate marketing strategies and lie at the heart of the Company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) policies.
The way different customers spend money and what they spend it on provides an overall understanding of their motivation. Happily for the huge majority of them, online gambling is great entertainment and Sportingbet’s products, promotions and culture make the relationship an enjoyable experience.
It is the remaining tiny minority, however, who may be potential fraudsters, underage gamblers or problem players that result in the need for comprehensive systems and procedures to protect the Company and, often, the customer. Of course, nothing can ever be entirely secure against determined offenders, but marketing to and retaining this part of the Company’s customer base neither makes financial sense nor is representative of the Company’s culture.
Consequently, Sportingbet has focussed on creating and installing software and staff training programmes that will identify vulnerable or inappropriate people. For example, the Company is working with a number of suppliers to ensure that the best available systems are utilised to prevent underage gamblers from gaming at the Group’s websites. Similarly, programmes are being developed and tested to identify behaviour patterns such as rising bet sizes, accelerating frequency of betting, repeated losses or mismatches between stakes and social background that may indicate problem gambling.
With the advent of multiplayer environments such as poker, the Company is particularly vigilant about the risk of collusion or irregular fund movements between participants.
Employees
The Board of Sportingbet is of the firm belief that the Company’s continuing success is due to the quality and commitment of its global workforce. The Company’s employee management priorities, including its remuneration strategies, are based on recruiting and retaining the best people in the industry and on encouraging working practices that improve productivity, reduce costs, develop talent and give job satisfaction.
Further, the Board recognises the need for communication with employees at every level. Copies of the annual Report and Accounts are available to all employees. With a growing global workforce, the Company is committed to developing ongoing communication with all of its employees. This is achieved through a variety of channels to ensure that everyone is informed of the Group’s progress and recognises the key roles that they, as employees, play in Sportingbet’s success. Further, the Group is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in matters relating to employment, training and career development of employees and is opposed to any form of less favourable treatment afforded on the grounds of disability, sex, marital status, nationality, race or religion.
As part of its approach to social responsibility towards its customers the Company is in the process of introducing a worldwide employee training programme to combat fraud and money laundering and the identification of underage or self-harming gambling.
Trade and Charitable Organisations
The Company recognises the obligation upon the gaming industry to demonstrate its commitment to self-regulation. Further, the Company is supportive of the role that the industry’s trade associations can play in this regard. Sportingbet has been an active member of the Interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association (iGGBA), the Association of Remote Gambling Operators (ARGO) and the European Betting Association and looks forward to continuing this role as a member of the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) which is the new trade association following the merger of iGGBA and ARGO.
The Company has signed up to the RGA’s Codes on Social Responsibility and Age Verification, the provisions of which the Committee endorses.
Further, Sportingbet invests considerable time and resources in meeting and influencing the officers and politicians of governments. These governments include those that have not yet regulated their online gambling industries. The Company’s management remains committed to playing its part in promoting the value of legislation that will lead to a regulated approach to the industry, not least as a mechanism for protecting the vulnerable elements of their societies from unscrupulous operators.
The Company also supports organisations which encourage greater education of the social impact of gambling and help to users who may be affected by gambling dependency. In the UK it works closely with Gamcare and supports its activities both financially and with advice.
For information about the Social Responsibility Committee, please click here.
