News round-up 17 July 2015
This weekâs news in brief sees Betfred and William Hill weigh up Apple Pay and LeoVegas switches to an in-house technology platform
Apple Pay finally launched in the UK, and although no major operator has yet integrated the service, William Hill and Betfred both confirmed that they are looking at the one-touch payment service. âThere are a number of new payment methods either available now, or in the near future, including Apple Pay and it would be damaging for any operator with an online presence to ignore them,â Stuart Magowan, Betfred head of mobile development, told eGR. âWe examine any new technology and listen to our customers before committing anything to our development stream, but we are aware of the opportunities this payment option may bring,â he added.
Mobie casino operator LeoVegas switched to an in-house developed technology platform, bringing to an end its deal with previous supplier NYX Gaming. NYX will remain a âkey business partnerâ for LeoVegas as a content supplier, however the mobile casino firm said last monthâs move to a proprietary platform was vital to take control over its own future. LeoVegas launched on NYXâs Rapid Platform in January 2012 and has since grown into one of Europeâs leading mobile casino operators with a presence in the Nordics and more recently in the UK.
French operator la Française des Jeux (FDJ) announced it plans to invest â¬13m in local tech start-ups in a bid to boost its in-house innovation and technology capabilities. FDJ has teamed-up with tech-focused venture capital firm Partech International for the venture and will pump â¬5m and â¬8m into two technology and start-up focused seed funds owned by Partech. The partnership with Partech will see FDJ develop internal âinnovation unitsâ to focus on a number of areas of its online business such as the operatorâs mobile products and assessing consumer behaviours.
Playtech announced the roll out its new HTML5 omni-channel bingo product with the first operators set to go live in weeks, as the provider continues to make good on its âmobile firstâ promise. Playtech Bingo is expected to be live with a number of the firmâs B2C clients in the coming weeks, with digital marketing firm Send Mediaâs Sea Bingo brand likely to be the first to launch. âIn line with Playtechâs mobile-first strategy we are very excited by the launch of our new software, an HTML5 bingo and games turnkey gaming solution,â a Playtech spokesperson said. âIt couples Playtechâs award winning bingo and games content with the power of the Playtech IMS platform.â
Betfair updated its iOS exchange app and made major changes to its desktop product as it moves towards a more seamless multi-platform approach with its core product. The new updated exchange app includes improvements to the bet management section including a dedicated open bets tab in a move likely designed to increase trade volume among those accessing the exchange from mobile. Bookmark functionality has also been added, allowing users to save their preferred markets and access them from the A-Z tab, while there have also been fixes to the PIN login system.
Malta-based casino operator Casumo launched a new mobile casino with improvements to UX, navigation and deposit functionality alongside greater personalisation. The mobile-web casino, which has been optimised for smartphone and tablet, will allow users to more easily âcomplete core tasksâ, such as playing their last played game upon log-in. Personalisation has also been pushed, with individual bonuses and offers displayed on the dashboard, and the firm said the responsive design should greatly improve performance on tablets.