How LexisNexis® IDU® helped Tombola achieve 20% uplift on KYC pass rates and better stability at peak times, all at a lower operating cost.
Tombola Case Study
About Tombola
Tombola is Britain’s biggest bingo site. They pride themselves on offering something for everyone, with tickets starting from as little as 1p and prizes up to £20,000. Sister brand tombolaarcade.co.uk launched in July 2016 and offers a range of “totally unique” games.
Tombola’s offering is built on value for money entertainment and the team has a strong commitment to responsibility, played out through a closely connected player community.
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“IDU won on all three fronts. The stability box was ticked really early on, but it also offered the perfect combination of a 20% increase on typical pass rates at a highly competitive operating cost. We’ve managed to reduce our KYC costs and vastly improve our pass rates, which for us is just the dream.”
– David Coombes, Product Management Lead.
The Challenge
In the world of online gambling, speed, accuracy and stability are the Holy Trinity of KYC (Know Your Customer) checks - not only to ensure regulatory obligations are met, but to achieve a customer onboarding experience that matches players’ demanding expectations and provides a competitive advantage.
“Gambling is different to many other online leisure industries, in that the upfront commitment on a potential player is onerous,” David Coombes, Product Management Lead, explains. “Compared to a typical gaming app, they have to input a lot of personal details and then make a financial commitment upfront. This leads to a relatively high abandonment rate and when you pair that with the high commercial cost of attracting them to the sign-up screen in the first place, it makes maximising the number of people we can get through KYC really, really important.”
Tombola’s criteria for a new solution consisted of three key elements. The first was good, reliable data, to accurately identify people and improve pass rates. The second was an improvement in system stability, particularly during high-volume periods, such as Tombola’s high-profile sponsorship of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. The third and final requirement for any solution was for it to meet all the business needs at a cost-effective price point.
“It’s about fine tuning the balance between meeting all of our legal and regulatory requirements and meeting the high expectations of prospective players, for whom patience is short and even a second or two delay is, in most cases, unacceptable." David says.
The Solution
Following a six-month discovery process, exploring the best KYC solutions on the UK market, David and team selected LexisNexis IDU® as their primary KYC solution. They were particularly impressed with IDU’s broad capabilities in providing multi-layered checks, incorporating a wide variety of positive and negative datasets, along with the ability to screen individuals against a bespoke scorecard, tailored to their very specific risk appetite.
This, combined with powerful linking technology and extensive data sourced from public records and multiple credit bureaus, gave David and team confidence in IDU’s ability to deliver frictionless onboarding decisions and meet player expectations.
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The Results
After implementing IDU in July 2020, the first real test came with Tombola’s repeat sponsorship of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in December 2020. Understanding the strategic importance of the event, the LexisNexis Risk Solutions team were on-hand to ensure Tombola were fully equipped to deal with the surge in sign-ups and, as David happily reports, there were none of the stability issues seen in previous years.
In addition, IDU was able to achieve a 20% uplift in KYC pass rates on the previous system. David attributes this success to IDU’s capabilities, as well as a close working relationship with the support team that enables them to constantly adjust and optimise their bespoke scorecard to maximise customer acceptances, without undue risk.
“LexisNexis Risk Solutions was a really good company to work with right from the start,” David explains. “They have a really proactive sales team and are willing to answer our questions, no matter how many, and were really obliging in showing us the system and talking through how it works. It feels more like a collaborative two-way street than a client-vendor relationship. There’s regular contact and both parties are always looking for new ways to add value to the business,” he concludes.
Testimonials
“A 20% uplift on pass rates is frankly staggering, given the KYC industry is so homogenous. What’s more, increasing pass rates while lowering operating costs effectively increases our marketing budget, so it really is a win win for us.”
– David Coombes, Product Management Lead.
“IDU won on all three fronts. The stability box was ticked really early on, but it also offered the perfect combination of a 20% increase on typical pass rates at a highly competitive operating cost. We’ve managed to reduce our KYC costs and vastly improve our pass rates, which for us is just the dream.”
– David Coombes, Product Management Lead.
“The collaborative nature of our relationship with LexisNexis Risk Solutions gives me real reassurance that whatever challenges lie ahead, whether that’s changes to the KYC landscape, or changes in consumer expectations, we will be able to work closely together on a solution, well in advance.”
– David Coombes, Product Management Lead.