The Nederlandse Loterij is the gambling organization in The Netherlands. All gambling games from the Nederlandse Loterij are intended for people aged 18 and older. They introduced iDIN (the online tool for safe and easy identification via the bank) to verify the age of online participants.
More than half of the Dutch people takes a gamble from time to time with one of the games of the Nederlandse Loterij. The Nederlandse Loterij actively pursues a responsible gaming policy. This gaming policy focuses on consumer protection, addiction prevention and the prevention of illegality and crime.
People under 18 often have trouble seeing and resisting risks. The top priority of the Gaming Authority is therefore to prevent young people from being able to participate in gambling. That’s why the Gaming Authority thinks it is a good thing that the Nederlandse Loterij does an age check with all its online players.
Willemijn Jansen (Manager Responsible Gaming at Dutch Lottery) emphasizes the importance of an age check, because only adults are allowed to play the games of the Nederlandse Loterij. "We offer gambling games in a fair and safe way, a reliable age verification of our players is part of that process." That’s why the Nederlandse Loterij works with iDIN.
The Nederlandse Loterij shows that a positive user experience, safety and responsible gaming work very well together. By using the iDIN technology, they enable ease and safety as well as taking full responsibility when it comes to age verification (18+).
Because more and more gamers are also playing online, it became important for the Nederlandse Loterij to extend age verification of its players online. "We noticed that more and more gamers are buying their tickets online or using the app. We have made clear agreements with retailers about the sale of our gambling games. But online it was also important to take good measures to prevent minors from playing." says Willemijn. A solution was sought here from the Responsible Gaming Policy,
"It is also an anticipation of new legislation", adds Willemijn. "With the introduction of a new law for online gambling (KOA: Kansspelen op Afstand - Gambling on Distance), stricter regulations will be introduced, also in the area of identification and verification. So for us, iDIN is also a step in the right direction towards opening up the online market. "
iDIN is a new service from Dutch banks for authentication and verification. iDIN is similar to the way the customer uses internet banking. For example, he wants to purchase something in your webshop. With iDIN he logs in with the same login method of his bank to have his data checked, for example his name, address, date of birth, gender and contact details. This way online identification can now be both very reliable and user-friendly. No financial data is shared via iDIN, such as the IBAN number and balance information.
Product Owner Marlin Kamminga has coordinated the implementation of iDIN in the portal of the Nederlandse Loterij: "Before we implemented iDIN, you just created an account and you could play immediately. However, the necessary checks were built in, both when completing the account and afterwards with random checks or when you win a large prize. But a reliable technical age verification as we have now with iDIN, wasn’t there yet."
"If you win a big prize, you have to identify yourself when you come to collect it," explains Willemijn. But the Nederlandse Loterij wants to be sure that all participants are 18+. "Sports betting such as TOTO are popular, also among young people between the ages of 14 and 18, while it is legally forbidden for minors to play" states Willemijn.
"We have opted for this implementation, partly because of the convenience for users. Of course we have an interest in such a tool that does not deter consumers, "says Marlin. "That's why the Nederlandse Loterij has opted for a reliable method with a recognizable logo."
The iDIN age check is added at the end of the customer journey. Marlin: "We have chosen to introduce iDIN for existing players when paying their betting price, which is the moment they are most motivated to perform this check.”
Everyone who plays, wins money and gets paid, must pass through the iDIN check. "Of course we have informed our existing customers about this", explains Willemijn. "A lot of information about iDIN has been added to our website and a press release has also been sent out."
During the implementation period, Marlin had a lot of contact with the customer service team. "What questions came in via e-mail, chat or phone? It wasn’t very bad I have to admit, and most questions were more of a check, such as: "You use iDIN, what exactly is that?" As far as I understand, there were hardly any complaints, so that says a lot about the ease of use."
Successful implementation of a new verification technique requires good internal coordination as well as good external communication. Marlin: "We carefully looked at which systems would be affected by the new implementation. It doesn’t only affect our portal and the platform of CM. For example, SalesForce also had to take part in it as well as Intralot, a large party that we work with for our lotteries. This meant we had to make smart decisions in our approach, because if someone can’t log in, the customer service must be able to see whether it’s a bug or a young participant."
To be sure that the implementation would be done carefully, the Nederlandse Loterij has set up a project group which included not only Willemijn and Marlin, but also the customer service team and business analysts. Marlin: "We looked at the impact of systems, for example the choice of whether or not to include the entire database. Questions about possible downtime and release plans were also discussed so that everything would work out fine, and it did. "
Marlin already had the expectation that iDIN would be implemented fairly quickly: "Because we don’t have any developers in house, we worked with our supplier Q42 for the implementation of iDIN. They paid a lot of attention to the documentation and therefore knew exactly what to take into account for the implementation and integration. "
The team consisted of a back-ender, a front-ender, a designer and Marlin herself from her role as product owner. "Q42 documented the full implementation, suppose something changes in the future, we would know exactly what the system looks like. Eventually everything went very smoothly, correct documentation brings you a long way. "
As a developer, Derk-Jan Hartman was the contact person from CM.com for the iDIN integration at the Nederlandse Loterij. He endorses the positive experience of Marlin. "The Nederlandse loterij had a tight schedule for the launch of this new functionality. But through the close cooperation, we’ve made it possible together. Minor problems after the launch of iDIN in the platform were solved quickly through this close cooperation. It also provided more insight into possible optimisations for iDIN, thanks to the analyses of the Nederlandse Loterij. We have been able to release these to the banks and Dutch Payments Association.
Are you planning to offer online gambling and betting in the Netherlands? Then iDIN is the way to go. Make your customers happy by offering a widely adopted identification and age verification method. Discover all the possibilities, contact us now.
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