Ontario’s new centralized self-exclusion tool is designed to be an “intuitive” way for both operators and players to regulate users’ gambling habits, said Integrity Compliance 360’s (IC360) President Eric Frank.

iGaming Ontario (iGO) announced at the start of August that it had selected a joint bid from IC360 and fellow technology specialist IXUP to develop the new province-wide system for Ontario’s gaming market.

iGO says the self-exclusion tool will be the first of its kind in a North American market. Ontario players over the age of 19 will be able to sign up for the program, which will then block them from using all of their online gaming accounts with regulated operators in the province.

Speaking on the Gaming News Canada show, hosted by Steve McAllister, after the announcement of the multi-year contract, Frank gave some more details on what the tool will look to accomplish.

“We had three fundamental factors we wanted to meet in our system and what we built and the first was to meet the requirements outlined by iGO,” Frank said.

The core principle, as stated by iGO, was to offer a supportive, secure, transparent and robust player-first approach. Key requirements were identified as providing a simple and ubiquitously accessible tool that allows players to create and manage their self-exclusion profile and includes Know Your Client (KYC) identity verification.

Frank explained that making the process “intuitive” was crucial.

“The second [factor]was to deliver a product that’s intuitive and easy to implement for the operators. We know that they have a lot on their plate in terms of their tech stacks so delivering a product that was intuitive and easy to implement was critical.

“The third factor was the most important. That was to provide the consumers who are struggling with addiction or issues around responsible gambling with a very intuitive, easy system that is a one-stop shop for them to handle and deal with this issue.”

AGCO mandated self-exclusion development

The development of some form of centralized self-exclusion system was a mandatory requirement of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) when Ontario’s regulated online gaming market was launched in 2022. With the province’s market having grown to more than 50 operators and 70 different websites, the need for such a tool had become a sharper focus.

Catherine Jarmain, iGO’s director of industry, programs and monitoring, was also featured on the episode alongside Frank. She explained that the self-exclusion tool will be promoted by all of the province’s operators on their websites and will also be marketed independently using revenue given to iGO by operators for the purpose of promoting responsible gambling.

“It was always part of the plan…” said Jarmain. “Going back to the beginning and thinking about why we were regulating this market, one of the main objectives was consumer protection and better support for players. Central self-exclusion is an important tool for players who may have concerns about their gambling.

“It was part of the AGCO’s registration standards that each operator have its own self-exclusion program, but also that there would be a centralized self-exclusion system like this one to provide a better, safer, more clear focused way of engaging with self-exclusion.”

Industry ‘will miss’ retiring Martha Otton

Frank, Jarmain and McAllister also all paid tribute to iGO executive director Martha Otton, who is retiring from her work at the end of the year. Otton has led the agency since 2021 and oversaw the prelude to, the launch and the early success of Ontario’s regulated market.

Jarmain said that she expected that Otton would step down but admitted she still felt “surprised and sad” when she heard the news.

“I worked for Martha for six years and I followed her over to iGO to launch this market to make it safe for players,” said Jarmain. “She has not only led us to regulate this market but also built a dynamic agency in the meantime. We all look up to her leadership and I know that we will all miss her.

“Martha leaves big shoes to fill but also leaves an organization poised to move on to the next stage.”