The Rank Group has developed a real-time monitoring desk as part of its “continued roll-out” of safer gambling measures.

The system can monitor the online behaviour of customers and identify which cases require intervention; the group says it is “building on real-time player monitoring that has been underway for a number of years.”

It will place particular focus on high-velocity players that suddenly show changes in behaviours, which may not be picked up by current safer gambling procedures.

In October 2018, the Rank Group was fined £500,000 ($657,400) for failing to comply with rules put in place to protect problem gamblers and, given the nature and length of such investigations, any current failings would likely not become public until a future date.

Rank, however, says it has made significant strides in utilising artificial intelligence to identify potential gambling-related harm.

It has also refined its digital affordability framework to assess customers in every stage, whether they’re registering or depositing and withdrawing money.

Liam Smith, Director of Customer Services, Rank Group, said: “We’re very aware that high-velocity play is an area of concern and that’s why we stepped up our focus on addressing this issue over the
course of the last year.

“We wanted to better identify changes in behaviour, as close to real-time as is possible, to ensure we can support those customers, where appropriate. We’ve been building the desk over a considerable period of time, and it will continue to be refined as we improve our understanding of player behavioural change.”

In recent years, the operator has launched a suite of safer gambling enhancements based in its customer support hub.

This includes around-the-clock customer monitoring, which has been in operation since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in the number of employees focused on player protection.