GMB - What is Greco's main focus at the moment? Which markets do you aim to increase participation in?
Matheus Betto - Recently, Greco has been focusing on the Latin American market. We know that operators in Brazil and Latin America as a whole face serious problems related to bonus abuse, and generally, their risk management tools for dealing with this issue still have much room for improvement. That is why Greco is paying special attention to these sectors. We are very confident that we can help, as we have years of contribution in more mature markets.
What solutions does the company offer to assist operators and platforms?
Our solutions help operators and platforms understand the behavior and risk level of each player by analyzing them in the gaming environment, thus being able to indicate whether such players generate positive or negative value for the operators, if they are manipulating games, bonus mechanics, their terms and conditions, etc.
In other words, we create an engine that allows us to reconcile the best ways to manage risk while maintaining a long-term relationship with good players, and that also allows immediate actions to prevent bonus abusers. We optimize valuable aspects for any company: time, money, and UX.
How does Greco use AI to analyze bettor behavior?
We have tested tens of thousands of games (in terms of vulnerability) because our risk engine has about 40,000 titles in its database, having crossed thousands of abusive or non-abusive behaviors (previously mapped), so the system has already learned to automatically identify patterns that signal a progression of risk.
In other words, we understand player behavior in the context of what they are doing and comprehend the unique vulnerabilities of each game. Additionally, we test dozens of new titles every week, which in turn generates an additional machine learning process by our tool. We keep improving our tool, as it keeps learning from real data.
What are the new trends used by Greco?
Bonus abuse is a relatively new situation in Brazil. Once we noticed serious problems, such as frequent data leaks or the possibility of abusers falsifying identities (sometimes using advanced technologies like AI), it became clear that more generic risk management solutions on the market are not equipped to combat the problem. This is how we differentiate ourselves from others.
Since our engine is focused on gaming enviroment, we are the only ones capable of identifying some abuses already common in more mature markets, such as "cash stashing" and "exploitable slots" (which apparently do not even have defined names in Brazil). In these practices, abusers can combine actions by bypassing game rules and tricking the system to "hide" their money, using the bonus to later turn it into cash, where they significantly increase their winnings as they progress through the games to then withdraw the funds. After interacting with operators in the Latin American segment, it is absolutely clear that this is already a widespread problem.
How can bonus abuse be prevented?
The best way is to act preventively - which we absolutely understand is not a reality in markets like Brazil and Latin America as a whole. Many operators are growing at a very fast pace and are not focused on optimizing their operations, possibly losing a lot of money by not acting in a timely manner.
Our risk engine operates 24/7, so as we automate the exchange of information with the operators' gaming environment in real-time, we can confront bonus abusers before they exploit the operator. It is worth noting that we also manage to provide a better experience for users, as the operator can benefit from our rules to educate players and direct them to what makes more sense. Additionally, we can also add the "Greco shield" (with our symbol) to the operator's website, and thus potential abusers tend to be repelled and migrate to unprotected operators.
What are your marketing strategies for this year in Brazil?
We are acting in various ways. We participate in important events (SBC Rio and SiGMA Americas São Paulo), publish several articles in industry journals and websites, give interviews to specialized channels, etc.
And as for clients, we work with major operators in the market, allowing us to have case studies and demonstrate the extent of bonus abuse. For example, our solution ensured millions in savings for the Kaizen Gaming group. Therefore, we now intend to extend our offer to the rest of the market.
Do you plan to work with more markets in LatAm?
Indeed, we are. There are operators in these markets already using Greco's technology. And we can guarantee that bonus abuse is spreading to the rest of Latin America, with a strong expansion of multi-accounting, for example, which quickly and massively exacerbates the problem. And, of course, we remain fully interested and capable of further expanding our operations in LatAm, which is why Greco was present at the Peru Gaming Show (Lima) in June, and we also be at SBC Latinoamerica (Miami) in October.
How does the entry of regulations in Brazil help or hinder Greco's operations?
We believe that the proposed format will bring many challenges for licensed operators, as well as an imminent risk of not being competitive against those in the parallel market. This sentiment seems to be quite common among regulators, lobbyists, and operators we have spoken to.
We hope that the rules regarding bonuses will be relaxed, as this is an important option for them. But it is still a bit early to comment. Regardless of the outcome, we understand that operators will be able to create mechanisms to reward players in one way or another, and our solution allows us to support them to ensure that only players with good intentions are rewarded.
Source: Exclusive GMB
