Enhancing Anti Money Laundering (AML) Compliance and Player Protection through Biometric Technology

Biometrics Team • Jul 04, 2023

In the UK’s increasingly technologically advanced world, convenience has become the norm in various aspects of our lives. From money exchanges to recreational activities like gambling, technology has brought about unprecedented ease and accessibility. However, this convenience has also given rise to new challenges, particularly in preventing fraudulent money exchanges. As the need for secure financial transactions grows, organisations are taking proactive measures to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. By leveraging cutting-edge biometric technology, businesses can enhance their AML compliance protocols.

As biometric technology is proving to be an effective solution for tackling fraudulent money exchanges, it can also be put to good use in curbing harmful gambling. Innovative Technology has developed systems to estimate a player's age and help stop underage gambling. It also has the capability to track customers' play, which allows for the implementation of more detailed restrictions, like those set out in the recently released white paper from the UK Secretary of Culture, Media and Sports.

Continue reading to learn more about the revolutionary technology that is helping create safer spaces in gambling and money exchange settings, and how our partnership with currency exchange providers ECEX is leading the way.

Why does AML matter?

AML regulations play a crucial role in preventing the flow of illicit funds through legitimate businesses. Compliance with these regulations helps mitigate risks associated with money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. Beyond being a legal obligation, AML compliance is an ethical responsibility for businesses operating in various sectors.

Enhancing compliance with ECEX

As a global currency exchange provider, ECEX recognises the importance of combatting money laundering effectively. To safeguard its operations and protect its customers, the company has implemented robust AML compliance protocols that utilise Innovative Technology’s biometric solutions, ensuring a safer experience for users.

Automated Currency Exchange (ACE) machines from ECEX use Innovative Technology biometric solutions utilising facial recognition technology to ensure adherence to AML requirements through intelligent customer tracking. By monitoring a customer’s previous exchanges, the biometric technology helps maintain transactional limits while preserving privacy.

With this technology, automated exchange kiosks can determine if a customer has reached the standard limits for domestic transactions, eliminating the need for additional identification such as a passport or an employee monitoring the kiosk. Transactional limits can be set according to specific AML regulatory guidelines, providing a more secure service while safeguarding customer privacy.

When the exchange limit is below the threshold, the device temporarily stores the customer’s facial information locally. This enables the technology to detect any further exchanges within that time frame, ensuring compliance with the transactional limit and preventing threshold breaches.

Player Protection and safer gambling

In addition to AML compliance, biometric solutions also play a crucial role in player protection within the gambling industry. Until recently, UK gambling protocols were ineffective and outdated but, as of April 2023, the Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport released a white paper demanding the digitalisation of safety nets in the gambling industry.

Not too dissimilar to how biometric technology can be used to track transactions for currency exchange machines, it can also track land-based gambling activity down to the individual, allowing for personalised limits to be set and more thorough checks to be carried out. Gambling operators are responsible for identifying and safeguarding customers who may be at risk of harmful gambling behaviour.

Biometric technology provides valuable support in two key areas:

Age estimation

Preventing underage gambling is a serious concern. Biometric solutions such as MyCheckr and ICU Pro from Innovative Technology can help address this issue by detecting underage individuals attempting to enter gambling premises or age-restricted gaming zones.

Player Tracking

Biometric technology such as ICU Lite automates age verification and player tracking at gaming machines. By estimating a player’s age and converting their face into a FaceID, ICU Lite enables the monitoring of daily spending and losses across connected machines. This helps identify and intervene in cases of excessive gambling and ensures adherence to predefined limits.

To learn more about ensuring safer gambling with biometric technology, read this blog.

Self-exclusion

This functionality also accommodates self-exclusion. Self-exclusion allows those who are concerned about their gambling habits to have the option of excluding themselves from on-premise facilities. Our biometric technology can map a person’s face when they are trying to gain access to gambling facilities, converting their biometric information into an anonymous FaceID. The FaceID created is then searched on the system and, if a match is found, the operator will be alerted and they can act accordingly. This aims to help people who suffer from gambling addiction to regain control over their lives and harness a healthier relationship with gambling, without permanently banning it from their lives.

By embracing advanced biometric technology, businesses everywhere can enhance their procedures for AML and Player Protection. Biometric solutions like ICU Pro, MyCheckr and ICU Lite enable accurate age estimation, intelligent customer tracking, and enhanced player monitoring and access. These measures not only safeguard operations, but also contribute to a safer and more transparent financial ecosystem. As technology continues to evolve, leveraging biometrics will play a pivotal role in combating financial crimes and ensuring responsible gambling practices.

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by Biometrics Team • 21 Jul, 2023

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