To prevent a harmful behavior, early intervention is critical, and I am glad that we can see [a] result of the roll out
Kindred Group said revenue from harmful gambling fell to 3% in Q1 2023, its lowest share since the company announced an initiative in 2021 to eradicate revenue from high-risk players.
The European gaming giant announced Monday that the share of revenue from harmful gambling totaled 3% in Q1 2023, down from 3.3% during the preceding quarter. Kindred attributed the decline to improvements in its system of automated interventions with high-risk players.
Specifically, Kindred said 83% of customers whose gambling habits triggered an automatic intervention — and subsequent engagement by the company’s responsible gambling and customer-facing personnel — showed improved gambling behavior.
“During the quarter, effects of automated technological solutions such as detecting and engaging with customers at risk through automated interventions are showing initial signs of a positive trend,” Kindred said, adding that the 83% figure represented “a small improvement from the previous quarter [82.1%] and serves as another testament to the importance of intervention efforts.”
The percentage of high-risk players that showed improved gambling behavior was 84.7% in Q2 2022, but slipped to 82.6% in Q3 2022 and 82.1% in Q4 2022 before rebounding to 83% in Q1 2023.
Going forward I look forward to following the holistic approach and collaboration across different teams within Kindred
“We have continuously emphasized the importance of detecting and engaging with our customers who are showing markers of harm,” said CEO Henrik Tjärnström. “To prevent a harmful behavior, early intervention is critical, and I am glad that we can see result of the roll out of automated interventions that we have done in some of our markets.”
Initiative Shows Mixed Results So Far
Kindred launched its initiative, Journey Towards Zero, in February 2021 with the goal of having none of its revenue from high-risk players. At the time, Kindred was the first operator to report the share of revenue from harmful gambling and it pledged to continue reporting making the reports on a quarterly basis.
The initiative has shown mixed results. Kindred reported that 4.3% of revenue came from harmful gambling in Q4 2020 — the first figure the company reported as part of Journey Towards Zero. The rate slid to 3.9% the next quarter but was back at 4.3% in Q2 2021 and stood at 4% in Q4 2021.
For four of the last seven quarters, revenue from harmful gambling was stuck at 3.3%. Last February, Kindred conceded that its goal would be tough to achieve.
“The past two years have been focused on internal alignment and accelerating the work underlying the process of getting there,” Kindred said in a statement on February 6. “While improvements continue to be made, the journey is longer and more challenging than first expected.”
Still, the company said it was still committed toward its goal.
“Going forward I look forward to following the holistic approach and collaboration across different teams within Kindred,” Tjärnström said Monday. “Responsible gambling is not a factor only for one team, but it is something that every single employee contributes to through their knowledge and commitment to reducing harmful revenue.
“By our tech teams working hand in hand with the responsible gambling and customer facing teams, we can swiftly release improved interventions across different markets — all in line with our Journey Towards Zero road map.”
Last week, Kindred announced that it had received final approval from regulators in New Jersey to launch its Unibet online casino in the state.
