Betfair introduces short-term cool-off feature
Customers offered 'Time Out' option to suspend their account for 24 or 48 hours " time-staggered commission rates set for 2014
Exchange and sportsbook operator Betfair has launched a new customer protection mechanism allowing customers to effectively suspend their account for up to two days.
A ‘Time Out’ feature has been introduced to help those who may otherwise be tempted to chase losses by opting to place a suspension on their account for either 24 or 48 hours with the click of a button.
The suspension will freeze all activity on the account, although clients will still be able to view prices and markets. In addition, all marketing communication with the player will be temporarily halted.
The operator revealed the new feature during a customer Q&A held last week and comes after the UK government demanded that operators strengthen their player protection processes.
“This [Time Out] allows the player to introduce a break in play for a short length of time and give them an additional means to play responsibly,” the operator told customers.
“We take player protection very seriously at Betfair and look forward to feedback on this new feature,” it added.
Betfair also revealed it was devising plans to introduce time-staggered commission rates in order to boost the liquidity ahead of its start time, for instance, no or a lower rate of commission the evening before a horse race.
The operator is currently developing time sensitive software before launching the scheme next year.
“At present, our software does not allow us to modify price by time of day, however, we plan to enable this in 2014,” it said. “Once we have the functionality in place, we will test the use of different commission rates at different times.”
The operator has seen its competition stiffen in recent weeks with the launch of Ladbrokes Exchange and the reinvention of Cork-based exchange Matchbook.