Equals Money Solutions Director Ian Campbell points out that as online gambling fraud becomes more rampant, the industry needs to shift from passive compliance to active protection, and promote innovation and security in parallel through close cooperation with regulatory bodies and payment providers.
Research shows that from 2022 to 2024, online gambling fraud is expected to grow by an average of 64% per year, with half of the operators losing about 10% of their revenue last year. Campbell believes that operators should not merely view the payment system as a backend function, but as a strategic lever, protecting players and business security through joint employment agreements, reducing fraud, and accelerating payments from genuine customers.
Equals Money achieves precise problem localization and freezing by assigning a unique IBAN to each customer, avoiding freezing the entire account while ensuring the continuity of services for other customers. Real-time monitoring and data sharing are also crucial; by sharing fraud indicators across industries, operators can more quickly detect and block risks. APIs play a central role in enabling instant, secure payments, while AI-driven analytics enhance the efficiency and scalability of transaction monitoring and fraud detection.
The application of blockchain and stablecoins is also on the rise, providing fast settlement and hedging tools for gambling payments, but regulatory bodies remain cautious. Campbell notes that cooperation with the UK FCA and the application of regulatory sandboxes will provide a safe path for innovative compliance in the industry.
He emphasizes that the future success of the online gambling industry depends on integrating payments, compliance, and innovation as strategic cores, supported by technology, collaboration, and regulatory backing to address the increasingly complex challenges of fraud.
