Tabcorp Lotteries Customer Care program

Tabcorp Lotteries is proud to have been recently re-certified to Level 4 of the WLA Responsible Gaming Framework. The highest certification level of this internationally recognized standard. Ensuring a safe environment for our Customers is paramount to our long-term success and through our Responsible Play Program we rigorously implement a suite of measures and safeguards to help minimize the potential for harm, prevent underage gambling, and assist those who may be at risk of experiencing problems to take action and access available support.

Our games have been available for sale online since 2001. Our digital channels have evolved and grown over this time and now account for over 30 percent of lotteries sales, with more than 3.7 million active online players (FY21).

From a Responsible Gambling (RG) perspective, we internally develop and deploy a range of effective harm minimization controls such as self-exclusion, purchase subscriptions, deposit and spend limit restrictions, and proof-of-age and identity verification. Withdrawals from player accounts are also restricted to customers that successfully meet regulatory identification requirements such as greenID verification of identity, age, and address. Such measures mitigate the risk of minors participating and receiving prizes in remote gaming channels.

In addition, and central to our Responsible Play program, is the implementation of a Lotteries Early Warning and Intervention program. At the core of this program is the development of an early warning system, which uses behavioral data and leverages machine learning techniques to identify customers who may be at increased risk of gambling harm. Through our digital channels, we have access to player interaction data that is applied for the specific purpose of targeting harm minimization.

Output from our early warning system is deployed via a customer contact framework and intervention strategy. This intervention strategy utilizes direct communication channels including email and the Contact Centre, to provide customers with Responsible Gambling and Gambling Help referral and support.

Considered an industry best practice example, we presented this model at Australia’s leading responsible gambling event, the 2019 National Association for Gambling Studies conference.

Further, and as part of our ongoing commitment to Customer Care and keeping our customers safe from Gambling harm, Tabcorp Lotteries has designed a Customer Care roadmap to guide the future development of our Responsible Gambling initiatives.

The roadmap was developed in consultation with customers, retailers, and stakeholders, and represents a continuation of our best practice approach to the field of harm minimization.

There are three key focus areas for our Customer Roadmap that have been identified as future expansions of our Customer Care program. These include:

• Enhance the Lotteries Early Intervention Model – Enhancement of the Lotteries Early intervention machine learning model using academic research and behavioral science strategies to identify and track behavioral markers of harm that can aid in earlier and more effective identification of customers who have increasing risks of gambling harm.

• Enhance Responsible Gambling information and communication – Through the use of more targeted and effective communication, we aim to further minimize the risk of gambling harm. Examples of features include the introduction of in-play interventions through the use of messaging and through encouraging engagement with RG tools or content, particularly where a customer has been identified as having an increased risk of gambling harm. Also, the introduction of personal play dashboards and behavioral metrics for customers to allow them to measure their own play behavior. For example, graphically displaying their spend proximity to their weekly spend limit, or aid in identifying when they are spending more time or money playing, for example displaying spend vs prior comparison periods.

• Enhance Responsible Gambling tools and controls – The introduction of new and enhanced tools that enable customers to take greater control of their play. For example, ‘Take a Break’ functionality will enable customers to immediately pause their game play for set periods of time, from a few days to a few months. This stream also includes the expansion of Omni-Channel RG Controls to ensure that customers can access consistent controls regardless of which channel they choose to play in.

We’re proud to be the Official Home of Australia’s Lotteries and we’re fully committed to continuing to provide our customers with a safe, secure, and friendly environment in which to play our games.

More details about the Lotteries Early Intervention Model

The Lotteries Early Intervention Model is built using base data set of self-excluded customers. Machine learning algorithms have been used to model behavioral attributes that predict customers who may be experiencing gambling harm. Twelve models are run independently to flag behavior attributes of concern, with customers identified as having multiple positive flags being selected for intervention via email or direct phone call.

To support interventions and more significant escalations, the data science team created a Customer Care Dashboard, which among other things shows the number of Early Intervention Model rules that have been breached, bet history, spend/deposit limit change history, segmentation, and propensity to play specific games. Access to this customer-level detail has provided efficiencies within the RG operations team and has facilitated more timely and effective interactions with customers who present gambling harm concerns.

Monthly reporting is provided to the Lotteries and Keno Responsible Play Steering Committee, which oversees RG issues across Lotteries and Keno. This ensures the organization is maintaining a close view of trends and emerging issues with regard to the identification and intervention of customers who are showing signs of gambling harm.

Customer Care Dashboard