GamCare, the leading provider of information, advice, and support for the prevention and treatment of problem gambling, will be using this year’s ICE London (5-7, February, ExCeL London, UK) as a platform to unveil its Safer Gambling Standard. The new kite mark sets out to recognise gambling operators who meet and go beyond the requirements of gambling industry Codes of Practice and comprises a group of 12 sets of principles for social responsibility across online, land-based and B2C operations.
Expanding on GamCare’s decision to conduct the official launch at the world’s largest gaming technology event, Development Director, Mike Kenward explained: “ICE London is the heart of the industry and THE place where the conversation around consumer protection and customer welfare should be happening. We will be announcing the full rollout of our new standard in the Consumer Protection Zone where operators should be heading in order to focus on protecting their customers and sustaining their business.”
“If operators don’t protect their customers then their customers will go somewhere they are protected,” continued Kenward. “There’s never been a better time for companies to focus on their processes and we’re hoping the industry will embrace the Safer Gambling Standard, not just because it’s the right thing to do from an ethical point of view but it’s also right from a business standpoint too.
“We will have already successfully trialed it with several operators before ICE London, but we want to do an official launch from the Consumer Protection Zone to talk people through the purpose of the standard, why they should get on board with it and what we ultimately believe it will mean to consumers. ICE London is without question the right place to launch this game-changing new standard and we’re looking forward to highlighting the operators who have already seen the positive effect when we present this in February.”
The wide-reaching new accreditation has been designed to review policy and procedures, digital interactions and corporate governance and culture with staff throughout the company, not just the customer facing team members. “For responsible gambling measures to be effective, it is essential that they are integrated into organisational culture and flow throughout the organisation. Our new standard focuses on the totality of an operation, from board members and directors down to the front line,” continued Kenward. The standard is a kite mark which incorporates the experience of our service users, the huge level of collected evidence and industry research across numerous fields as well as GamCare’s many years of experience working across the sector.”
“To support the new standard, we’re emphasising the significance of delivering comprehensive gambling related training to individuals and organisations. We’re looking forward to talking to operators about our training programmes and how any money we generate via the sale of training and the Safer Gambling Standard is used to support our charity and pay back into a cause which is hugely relevant to the industry.”
