Having an ever-growing reputation for reliability and service, Compliable’s constant efforts are aimed at reducing the gaming licencing burden through its streamlined application process. In an interview with Maria Debrincat, Chief Strategy Officer at Compliable, Justin Stempack sheds light on the brand’s developments and process along the way.
Can you tell us more about your current position and the work you do at Compliable?
I joined the Compliable team in August of 2021 as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer. In my current role, I straddle several different internal groups. I work closely with our product group to refine product development in light of the constantly changing needs of the gaming world. I help prioritise our roadmap and interpret regulatory questions for the common user of our product. I also work with our revenue team to explain our product to potential customers as an individual that has direct experience manually doing the work that the Compliable platform helps with. The third hat I wear at Compliable is with respect to developing partnership opportunities within the greater gaming industry.
Compliance technology like ours works best when it provides solutions to multiple problems and we are happy to find partners that are best in class to partner so that our solutions can be provided in conjunction with one another.
“Our top priority is always to help our customers most efficiently manage their licensing and compliance needs.”
Could you give us an overview of the US as a gaming jurisdiction and the main trends that have influenced the sector over the last few years?
The best way to look at the US is not as “one” gaming jurisdiction, but as dozens of different gaming jurisdictions. The state-by-state nature of gaming regulation in the US necessarily creates a wide range of different approaches to regulation by different regulators. The past two years have seen a flurry of legalisation activity across many different states. That frenzy appears to have calmed down somewhat this year with Ohio and Kansas appearing to be the main targets for the remainder of 2022. A number of sleeping giants remain, namely California and Texas, however imminent future legalisation in either is far from certain.
As far as main trends, there does appear to be a growing sensitivity to and awareness of the negative impact of extensive advertising. The rush to acquire customers in a new jurisdiction has traditionally been propelled by extensive advertising and for a jurisdiction unfamiliar with that practice it can be a surprise. A number of regulations from recent jurisdictions have been more specific regarding advertising content as well as connecting advertising violations directly to operators and not just affiliates.
How do you see the gaming industry developing and what other markets are you targeting?
Legalisation of online sports betting is going to continue to proliferate across the US; however, it will do so at a far less frenetic pace. As the US market continues to mature I expect that we will see the second wave of regulation in more veteran jurisdictions that begin to reassess gaming operators, vendors, and suppliers after the rush to go live has passed. This period will hopefully allow for to reassess the priorities of the market and examine whether there are methods to streamline the process for those companies operating in many markets simultaneously.
Where the majority of operators share the same concerns and request the same information from the industry, there is a huge potential to push towards some level of uniformity across regulations. It is incumbent upon trade organisations and the industry to start these conversations and explain the national compliance landscape to state regulators that only see a small piece of the puzzle.
What do you see as your current top priority?
Our top priority is always to help our customers most efficiently manage their licensing and compliance needs. As the market expands and those obligations expand, we need to make sure we are there. We actively track the legalisation of any new jurisdictions as well as any new licensing obligations and aim to provide support on the first day that a state begins to accept applications. The nature of our technology allows us to quickly add new forms to our platform for our customers and we recently built out support for Ohio licensing on the first day that the regulators opened for submission.
“The past two years have seen a flurry of legalisation activity across many different states.”
Read more interviews like this in our latest SiGMA Magazine here.
THE 300 SPARTANS:
After triumphing in key locations across Asia and Europe, AGS is flying 300 top affiliates to Malta, for an all inclusive deluxe trip. The event will happen alongside SiGMA, 14-18th November, during SiGMA Europe.
