Featurespace rolls out new fraud solution
Cambridge-based business working with operators including Betfair and William Hill Online.
Marketing and anti-fraud analytics business Featurespace has begun the introductory phase of two new solutions to utilise ARIC, its flagship software aimed at helping gaming operators analyse player behaviour more efficiently.
The first product, entitled Snowdon, offers real-time fraud prevention, while the second, Nevis, focuses on the early identification of customer churn. Both are expected to be made available to egaming clients such as Betfair and William Hill Online over the course of the next 12 months.
Featurespace co-founder David Excell told eGaming Review: “On the fraud side it’s not about the adjustment of fraud cost, but about making sure customer retention remains high. Our solution enables them to continue to monitor transactions throughout the life of the customer not just when they sign up.
“Rough stats show we think around 10% of good customers are being turned away or refused a transaction by fraud rules that are too aggressive, and if there’s additional work for the customer it’s hard for them to maintain their initial desire to use that particular service “ if you don’t have enough information to distinguish then you don’t want to turn away good customers,” he added.
ARIC employs specific behavioural change algorithms which allow operators to get a handle on customer behaviour both over the course of an individual customer’s lifetime, as well as in the context of the behaviour of the overall customer base as it is impacted by external factors such as major sporting events or site-wide promotions.
“We can build up a profile of what the customer is doing in the context of what others are doing,” Excell explained. “So, for example, if a big event such as the Grand National is bringing bigger bets or more deposits we are less likely to end up with false positives. This is also relevant with regards to promotions operators are running, such as big poker tournaments, or also collections of large sporting events over a short period of time “ this is where you can help operators manage,” he added.
Featurespace, a spin-off company from the Cambridge University engineering department founded in 2005, works with a number of online gaming companies, adding to its list of clients with last year’s deal with IG Group.
The development of the Nevis and Snowdon solutions is anticipated to be of benefit to operators as they enter new territories such as Eastern Europe where different considerations need to be taken, the company said.
“We’re starting to see operators move into different geographical areas and they have the task of understanding how customers in those territories act differently,” Excell said.
“It looks at who’s registering with details that don’t look correct, which customers are creating multiple accounts for promotions, and things like bot usage or collusion in poker – that’s why we’re looking at complete coverage for these operators.
“If a customer that’s initially good potentially turns into a bad one, or if their account becomes compromised, it’s all about being able to say there are behavioural changes that you can flag up. There needs to be a system maintained throughout the customer life cycle,” he added.