Know Your KYC Provider: What to Look For in a Partner

The initial contact between a potential player and an online sports-betting operator is crucially important. Often, the player has a specific bet in mind and game time is approaching. The user enters his or her name, address and other information online. You want to be sure the player attempting to open an account is a real person and that the information is accurate. 

If the know-your-customer (KYC) process goes smoothly, you might have a long-term player. If there are problems, the would-be player is likely to abandon the attempt and move to another platform.

TransUnion Gaming helps you make the process smooth, avoiding the friction that drives abandonment. The difference between a KYC pass rate of 85% and a KYC pass rate of 90% can translate to millions of dollars to your bottom line. In short, being able to quickly confirm that the player is a real person of legal age maximizes the number of players on the platform.

The key is having a vendor that has access to a variety of deep and robust data and TransUnion has multiple data sets that are linked to a consistent identity, which means we are able to cast the widest possible net to confirm a person’s identity. Being a credit bureau is an enormous advantage because TransUnion data is updated faster than other potential providers.

TransUnion has a cross-verified consumer database that covers 99% of US adults — and decades of experience managing and analyzing sensitive information. We leverage this data and experience to offer best-in-class identity proofing to confirm whether the information provided to open a new betting account is accurate. 

And if one piece of information doesn’t match up — say the would-be player entered an address that doesn’t match because of a recent move or a slip of the thumb — TransUnion can tell you which piece of information is wrong. This prevents the player from having to start over and it prevents you from having to resort to manual processes that add time and cost.

In addition to eliminating friction in the onboarding process, TransUnion helps identify potential fraudulent players. That can be a synthetic identity, where fraudsters create fake identities from pieces of genuine identities in order to try to create accounts; potential bonus abusers; or it could be a known fraudster from a different industry identified. 

If you want to ensure the highest KYC pass rates, consider providers with the broadest data possible. Having multiple vendors for the key onboarding process mitigates your risk in the event of a supplier outage and provides the best chance for a player’s information to be verified at the first attempt. If one provider’s services go down on the day of the Super Bowl, having a second layer to verify the players trying to sign up can turn a potential loss into a gain.

TransUnion doesn’t go away after the onboarding process. We can confirm or reconfirm additional KYC checks at other player touchpoints or enhanced due diligence requirements. With the right data and technology, you can streamline KYC and also ensure a more trusted gaming experience with protections for players and your business.