The Cost of Lost Signups to iGaming Brands
Posted by Harry Kane on Friday, May 20, 2022
The remote betting and iGaming market in the UK has endured fluctuating fortunes of late, but it continues to generate significant revenues and a healthy gross gaming yield (GGY). More specifically, the sector generated £6.4 billion in the year ending March 2022, with this figure updated and revised last November.
So, although this figure was down by 6.2% when compared with the year ending March 2021, it’s 12.4% higher than the amount recorded in March 2020 and is poised to grow incrementally in the months and years to come. Interestingly, it can be argued that operators in the UK are also missing out on opportunities to optimise revenues further, with missed signups representing deceptively large losses for gambling brands.
But how big a loss is this for casino brands, and how can they increase their signup rates among players? We’ll answer these questions and more in the article below!
Lost Signup Opportunities – The Scale and Issues
This topic was explored by a recent report by 1account, which found that the UK gambling industry and its various operators were missing out on £1 billion (or $1.2 billion) each year through failed signups. This is a huge amount of revenue (even in a multi-billion-pound marketplace), and something that may become increasingly important as the government cracks down on iGaming sites and practices in the future.
The 1account brand serves as a ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) player onboarding specialist and is uniquely qualified to comment on the online gambling space. It has also made specific recommendations to help iGaming brands recognise these issues and address these directly, boosting revenues and bottom-line profitability in the process.
According to Ben Keirlel, who’s the CEO at 1account, the year ending March 2021 saw the online gambling industry in the UK “successfully onboard nearly 33 million new players using Know Your Customer (KYC)”. However, the data garnered during this period also shows that “there would have been around seven million unsuccessful registrations based on the average industry success rate of 81%”, highlighting a significant financial loss for operators.
But what are the reasons for such a large selection of unsuccessful applications? Well, it’s though that up to 3% of potential customers input their date of birth incorrectly, which will incur a delay in the automatic KYC process that runs in the background when you register for an iGaming account.
This will see either the signup rejected completely or compel operators to ask for proof of ID, usually in the form of photographic documents such as a passport or drivers’ license. These documents must be uploaded manually and will need to be verified before you can deposit funds or wager online, and customers may be unwilling to do this or wait for the process to be completed.
Another highlighted issue is the ‘User Not Found’ message, which may occur and show up on displays in instances where the attributable data provided by the applicant isn’t available on trusted data sources, making it impossible for their identity to be verified as part of the KYC process. This may be due to a number of reasons, but for UK users, one of the biggest issues is a customer’s physical address not being listed on the electoral roll.
This type of issue is more commonplace and accounts for a larger number of failed signups, so it’s something that operators will want to address. This will require a significant focus being placed on their own unique signup process and how this interacts with KYC, with small and incremental changes potentially capable of delivering higher penetration rates and a much-improved return on investment.
How Can Operators Optimise Their Signup Rates?
As I’ve already touched on, the report commissioned by 1account has also recommended some steps that operators can take to tackle these concerns, and hopefully optimise their signup rates over time. The good news is that most measures are simple and incremental in nature too, creating relatively quick and low fix solutions that can deliver measurable improvements.
In terms of the birth date errors, one option is to negate the need for manual data input. So, rather than asking customers to type in their date of birth in a precise format, operators may want to consider installing drop down menus from which individuals can select their birth day, month or year. This is similar to how addresses are often confirmed, as you’ll be asked to enter your door number and post code before selecting from a drop down menu.
Operators should also consider minimising the number of screens over which account registration takes place, as this minimises the risk of errors occurring and makes it easier to review the information provided. By combining reduced manual entry with a quicker and more streamlined process, it’s possible to optimise accuracy and negate the risk of applications being rejected or delayed.
It’s also important that operators keep customers abreast of the KYC process, which is now integral to every successful iGaming sign up in the UK. This uses your information to carry out and complete verification checks during the signup process, confirming your age, physical address and that you are who you say you are.
By providing more information on the KYC process and the core personal datasets that it draws from, operators can ensure that their players are informed and enter the relevant details correctly. Similarly, they can check to see that they are registered on the electoral roll in the UK, prior to registering for an account with their chosen casino or remote sportsbook.
The Bottom Line
Clearly, there’s a financial cost to lost signups, which may prove increasingly seminal in a highly regulated market such as the UK. Remember, the UK government is also considering
legislating in the marketplace and imposing restrictions on slots bet limits and digital advertising, which will place increased pressure on operators’ turnover and profitability.
So, there has never been a better time to for operators to review their existing KYC provisions to guarantee optimal performance, while also providing customers with information on the process so that they can understand it better. This could see operators increase their rate of successful applications by up to 10%, delivering much higher levels of turnover with the minimum of fuss.
This could also see casinos and remote sportsbooks acquire more than three million additional players. What’s more, they could achieve this objective without increasing their marketing spend or investing more into their business models.