FanDuel’s New Technology Gives Players Customized Tools to Make Informed Decisions
FanDuel is launching a novel technology exclusive to the iGaming sector, enabling players to more effectively monitor their betting habits and make smarter choices.
Named Real-Time Check-In, this solution integrates deposit information with machine learning, enabling players to effectively manage their expenditures in real-time. Users can take initiative in regulating their actions on both the sportsbook and casino platforms by allowing the system to assess their betting habits.
Casino.org interviewed FanDuel's Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Sustainability, Cory Fox, along with the company’s Senior Director of Responsible Gaming, Jill Watkins, regarding the new technology.
System Identifies Bigger Deposits
To support the creation of a sustainable industry, operators consistently seek methods to enable players by providing them with tools for making better-informed decisions regarding their gameplay. Moreover, as stated by iGaming Ontario, every operator licensed in the province must obtain and uphold responsible gambling accreditation via the Responsible Gambling Council's RG Check initiative to guarantee RG programming.
This is crucial, as is conducting ad campaigns centered on responsible gambling; however, Fox noted that providing players with advanced technology to examine and model tailored deposit behavior is where the real impact occurs.
Last year, FanDuel launched My Spend, providing players with tailored insights into their spending habits over time.
“We found that providing those insights into a customer’s activity really made a difference in their ability to manage their play on the platform,” Fox said.
Distinctive Technology
Over 50% of FanDuel's active users utilized My Spend in the previous NFL season. Players utilizing the technology were more inclined to establish deposit limits. That sent a direct message to FanDuel leadership regarding the types of tools they aim to develop, focusing more on personalized solutions. Real-Time Check-In expands upon the achievements of My Spend.
"It meets the customer where they are and brings them important responsible gaming information right at the moment where they’re going to make a deposit,” Fox said.
The technology pauses that moment briefly and integrates a check-in into the deposit process "when users are making contextually significant deposits, [enabling] the customer to comprehend their play and manage their play."
Real-Time Check-In employs machine learning to estimate a deposit sum for each user daily, based on the individual's personal information. If a customer intends to deposit “significantly” more than their typical amount, that crucial information is highlighted to the user, and they are given the chance to reduce the deposit size or establish a limit for future transactions, Watkins noted.
Higher Engagement in My Spend
“We were trying to come up with a machine learning model that was able to get us to the scale we wanted but also with the granularity … personalized on an individual basis, very much personalized and tailored to a [player’s] behaviour … [and] history,” Watkins added.
“That gives us a really good indicator of how the likes of wins and play through and everything else could impact how someone is going to deposit on a given day,” she said. “So, the model will run, we will get that prediction, and that prediction sits in the back end of that individual person’s profile for that day. When they come on the site and make a deposit, we are doing a check in the background in real-time.”
RG Advertising Obligations
There are two tiers of check-in concerning the technology. The initial one is for a player who exceeds that limit, prompting a pause in the game to confirm whether they wish to deposit that sum, allowing them the chance to reconsider and decrease the amount. The second verification is aimed at players making larger deposits, informing them that they can proceed, but must establish a deposit limit to return to the homepage.
“We want to lead the industry in responsible gaming,” Fox said. “We want folks in Ontario to be comfortable using our products. It’s a step forward in terms of not just having those tools living on a box under the RG page but bringing them to the customer within customer flows. Making the tools contextual and right for them is a huge step forward. This requires both personal responsibility and engagement by the operators to give users the tools they need to manage their play.”
Eco-Friendly Industry
Ultimately, numerous operators think it negatively impacts business if you're perceived as a leading operator in a sector with unsustainable competitors.
In Ontario's fiercely competitive market, which currently has 49 licensed operators, Fox stated that "being the most trusted operator is the ideal position for us."
