10111818An innovative web-based platform combining payments and AI to help gambling operators identify vulnerable players in a frictionless manner.ClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKYaspa is an award-winning UK-based payments fintech SME with a core project team of Dr Toby Sucharov (CTO, formerly at Playtech and William Hill), James Neville (CEO, formerly at Worldpay) and Max Collinge (Product Head, formerly at NatWest). There are at least 300K people in the UK who experience gambling-related harm, which impacts their own lives and those of their family, friends and society. Such 'problem gambling' has broad ramifications, in England alone direct costs are estimated to be £400M (including £120M from depression, alcohol and drug use; £77M from unemployment benefits) and £1.3B in indirect costs such as increased homelessness and crime rates (PHE, 2023). Problem gambling is disproportionately prevalent among young or underage males who suffer from poor mental health and live in more deprived areas. Existing operator solutions to detect problem gambling are inadequate for two reasons: they give a view of the player only at a single operator level; and they require checks that are tiresome to complete, interrupting the experience for recreational players, and driving vulnerable players away to grey-market sites. As part of a broad reform of the gambling industry, the UK government is looking for alternative solutions to identifying vulnerable players in a frictionless manner. In response, Yaspa is is building on its open-banking payments software to develop an AI-based platform that ensures players can make quick and easy deposits while real-time data analysis and modelling identifies those at risk. Working with academics expert in the Safer Gambling and AI fields, Yaspa will deliver a world-class level of analysis to this data that will meet operator needs and exceed regulatory requirements, while providing a secure, frictionless and risk-based experience that will transform the gambling industry's ability to identify and help vulnerable players.