Intent on capitalizing on its 12 years of experience in the U.K. and Europe, TransUnion is setting its sights on the burgeoning U.S. gaming market. The supplier of identity, fraud and marketing solutions announced Wednesday that it is launching TransUnion Gaming Services LLC in the U.S.
Glen Goldstein, TransUnion’s Diversified Markets EVP and President of TransUnion Gaming Services
“We bring a lot of experience from (UK and European markets), and from working with international and global operators and gaming platform companies,” says TransUnion Gaming Services diversified markets EVP and president Glen Goldstein.
TransUnion claims to have serviced 84 million transactions related to identity verification, fraud and responsible gaming for top gaming brands in the U.K. through TruValidate, its proprietary identity proofing, risk-based authentication and fraud analytics solution suite.
Goldstein acknowledges that the diverse regulatory landscape in the U.S. will be challenging. But because TransUnion deals with the U.S. insurance industry, which has state-specific rules and regulations analogous to gaming, he’s confident the company will be able to adapt to the “patchwork” gambling landscape.
“We have to be especially attentive to the different requirements and different rules and the different regulations of each state,” Goldstein says.
The issue of responsible gaming will also be important as TransUnion attempts to establish its U.S. presence. Goldstein says responsible gaming has always been a point of emphasis when dealing with gaming operators.
“In banking, I don’t know if anybody worries about having too much money,” Goldstein says. “But gaming has certain social consequences if it’s not done responsibly. Especially when you’re in an online environment, it presents a whole different set of challenges for an operator to be able to gauge a player’s ability to be able to afford the gambling they’re doing, or to be self-excluded because they’re a problem gambler.”
That need for operators to address responsible gaming has to be balanced with protocols that ensure player privacy. Goldstein admits that it can be tricky to meet the needs of operators and gamblers, but that TransUnion’s experience in financial services, health care and insurance establishes a safe and consistent blueprint.
“A lot it has to do with encrypting the data, anonymizing the data,” Goldstein says, noting that two years ago, TransUnion increased by eightfold its spend on data security. “It makes my job much easier when we’re putting our investments into that data security and infrastructure, because that’s our whole business. All it takes is one incident to erode your credibility.”
TransUnion’s digital marketing solutions leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning for its products. But for anyone with visions of an Orwellian approach to data gathering, Goldstein insists it’s not an issue, as there’s always a human presence, 24/7, sifting through the information.
What’s more problematic are the constant attempts to breach security. In order to combat fraud Goldstein says its incumbent for TransUnion to continue to invest in the latest R&D and technology, while using protocols it has developed in other industries to prevent scams and security breaches.
“You don’t want to become stale,” he says. “The fraudsters are awake all night trying to penetrate the system and find something new. As soon as we plug a gap, they’ll try to find another one. Somebody might say when does it end? I doubt it ever will, but I think as long as we continue to invest in the technology, that’s the best way to keep everybody safe.”
