Gamban’s Stephen Aupy: "We want to be part of players journey towards recovery"

In a recent conversation with Gamban’s VP of Partnerships, StephenAupy, we caught up on our previous conversation from SBC Summit Barcelona and discussed how Gamban has been working with regulators and the industry to help consumers remain protected. Aupy quickly outlined how Gamban is now looking to create a more wholesome product that enables consumers to undertake a more personalized journey towards recovery.

Q1: Gamban offers a sort of plug-out experience whereby consumers are not exposed to certain types of gambling and products. Do you think this is an efficient way to tackle any excessive gambling related or does Gamban also go deeper in helping consumers stay on the straight and narrow?

Our previous stance on Gamban, was to stick to what we promised ourselves to be the best at. Which was blocking access to gambling sites and apps. But that was three years ago – One of the things we have been very keen to explore is how we can further help our users today, so it is now our intention to make Gamban more wholesome product.

So, we want to be able to engage more with the users day-to-day. We now acknowledge that we need to provide something better for the users to achieve that. So, we would like to start engaging with our uswers, we want to hear their input on how their journey goes. We want to create a more rewarding experience where people get incentivized to remain on their positive path which reflects how long they have gone without gambling, among others.

Q2: How do you see Gamban working with operators and regulators in future? In fact, what relationships do you have presently with these two groups?

Over time we have managed to build positive relations with the gambling operators that we are currently aligned with in various global markets.

We generally have more of an interest in working with regulators as we believe that blocking software is more effective when integrated into consumer protection from a top down approach. My primary objective for Gamban at the moment is to supplement regulatory efforts. We want to help support what already exists.

Q3: Do you see other collaborators you can work with in order to help protect consumers better?

Yes, of course. There are many organizations that help towards our shared end goal. The only way that we can reduce gambling addiction is indeed through collaboration. We are partnering with many local organizations and initiatives. A good example is the UK where we have partnered with GamCare & GamStop to showcase a collaborative effort in reducing harms which is proving to be very effective in the UK. But yes, if we were trying to tackle the issue of gambling addiction independently from one another, it wouldn’t work. Collaboration is indeed key to reducing gambling harms.

Q4: If you could help guide regulation on responsible gambling in places like the Netherlands or/and the United Kingdom, would you change something specifically right this moment?

To be honest, I feel that the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are the best-regulated markets in the world, in terms of adopting a no nonsense approach. My overall view on regulators is to be more proactive and less reactive. One of the key takeaways I am hearing is that operators are indeed crying out for more guidance, and there seems to be a lack of guidance or guidelines for them to fully abide to in terms of marketing and so on.

Q5: What do you make of the future of the industry and how do you think responsible gambling will change over the coming years?

The future of the industry? That’s a tough one. Well, if we have to look at it broadly, we work in one of the most innovative and fastest-moving industries. So, 12 months from now – what the industry is going to look for? We are starting to see a tendency from gambling regulators to try to attempt to modernize legislative frameworks to be more proactive to certain developments in the industry, such as the metaverse, NFT and FX Trading, which are all slowly moving closer to the remote gambling world than ever.

One of my observations while working in Gamban is that people can not keep up with the stimulus our smart phones and devices give us. I expect that we will see more of virtual reality and metaverse gambling. Gambling in the Metaverse to me sounds like a ticking time bomb and makes me think about what are the physical and emotional ramifications of gambling in these settings, so I suppose, it’s important to keep an eye on how this change in gambling affects consumers. It will be interesting to see what changes.

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