A note from banking group JP Morgan on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) claims made by a number of Australia-listed gaming firms observes that for slot machine and digital content provider Aristocrat Leisure Ltd, “the areas of focus differ slightly to the traditional casino or wagering operators”.
The Monday memo stated: “In addition to responsible-gambling player education, employee training and consumer disclosures, Aristocrat highlights ethical product design as having very high importance to stakeholders and high strategic impact on Aristocrat.”
The paper – subtitled “It is not all bad news: Responsible Gaming” – is from JP Morgan Securities Australia Ltd analysts Don Carducci, Michael James, and Emily Macpherson.
Aristocrat’s commitment included – stated the analysts, citing the company – ensuring its games do not “mislead”, “trick” or encourage excessive use by consumers.
JP Morgan said that “as evidence of the commitment to responsible gaming,” Aristocrat was running a trial in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on a new digital wallet for gaming.
The banking group said: “This trial is being run in conjunction with government and regulators in the state in order to learn [about] and better inform [others] how to best protect against gambling harm.”
JP Morgan said Aristocrat’s digital wallet enabled consumers – when used at a venue – to pay for non-gaming as well as gaming services.
“Users will be able to set limits across things such as session time, frequency of play, spend and bet size,” said the bank.
Not only can users self-exclude from a gaming premises via the wallet’s app, accordng to the gaming technology firm, but app users can also enable intervention in the form of monitoring by venue staff.
“One feature worth highlighting is the restriction on transferring [credit] to the wallet whilst on the gaming floor. Patrons will be required to leave the gaming floor before top-up,” said the banking group.
