Rank Group launches Hawkeye safer gambling monitoring desk

The operator of Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo says the system will allow it to quickly identify problem behaviour online.

UK.- Rank Group, which operates the brands Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo, has launched a real-time safer gambling monitoring desk called Hawkeye.

The company said the system will enable it to more quickly detect signs of risky behaviour among online customers in order to intervene if necessary.

Rank will continue to use its existing real-time player monitoring, which it has had in place for several years. Hawkeye will hone in on regular players who display changes in behaviour that might not be noticed by the existing controls.

Liam Smith, Rank’s director of customer services, said the system was inspired by the way trading desks can monitor incoming transactions as they happen. He said that by identifying changes in behaviour in as close as possible to real-time, Rank will be able to better support customers.

He said: “We’re very aware that high-velocity play is an area of concern and that’s why we stepped up our focus on addressing this issue over the course of the last year.

“We are determined to give customers the safest possible experience with us when they play across our digital brands and the Hawkeye system adds another layer of protection to our full suite of safer gambling measures across the business.

“We’ve made significant strides using artificial intelligence to power our propensity model which looks to identify potential gambling-related harm, and we’ve also refined our digital affordability framework to assess customers at every stage of their time with us, from registration, through to deposit and withdrawal.

“We’ve been building the desk over a considerable period of time and it will continue to be refined as we improve our understanding of player behavioural change.”

Rank reopened its Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo venues in most of the UK last month following the easing of Covid-19 countermeasures on May 17.

Rank reported that net gaming revenue for Q3 was down 72 per cent year-on-year, while overall venue revenue was down 98 per cent due to the UK’s winter Covid-19 lockdown.

In April, Rank, which also owns Enracha in Spain, appointed Katie McAlister to its board of directors as a non-executive director with immediate effect. She now serves on Rank’s nominations, safer gambling and remuneration committees.