Coral and Ladbrokes top Degree 53 survey on age verification UX
New report focuses on operator clarity on new requirements and accessibility for players
Coral and Ladbrokes have the slickest UX when guiding customers through new age verification checks required by the UKGC, according to a new review carried out by digital marketing firm Degree 53.
The report aimed to establish how each operator has dealt with new requirements to verify customers at the point of registration before they are able to gamble.
Sports betting firms whose processes were reviewed included bet365, Paddy Power, SkyBet, Ladbrokes, Coral, Unibet, Betway, BetVictor and Betfair. All operators were assessed in July 2019 on iPhone X.
GVC’s Coral and Ladbrokes brands topped the list with scores of 76 and 72 respectively, while Paddy Power Betfair came in third with a score of 71 out of a 100.
Sky Bet was the best of the rest, with a score of 66, while bet365, Betfair and BetVictor could only manage scores of 64 and 60 respectively. Betway and Unibet were ranked as the lowest scoring brands by Degree 53, with scores of 50 and 45 respectively.
Coral was praised for its “informative” tone of voice, the easy access to live chat and allowing customers to browse the sportsbook without being able to place a bet before verification.
At the other end of the spectrum, Unibet was criticised for a lack of information and “quite a few errors with pop ups“ during the process.
“Messages like ‘Oops, you need to verify’ show up in quite a lot of places, but don’t offer any guidance and help to proceed,” the report noted.
Jade Daniels, Degree 53 design director, said the new requirements had “completely changed” the whole acquisition process for some customers, leading many to be dissuaded from gambling online.
She added: “Its a tricky thing to balance and get right for the punter, as well as for compliance. Regardless of the regulation, it’s important to offer as much guidance as possible to customers to make their journey simpler.
“Something as simple as inputting the wrong date of birth because of a cumbersome dropdown while registering can really affect the choice of operator for customers if they experience obstacles. Regulations shouldn’t prevent online gambling businesses from developing new ideas, and our reports show different examples of how it can be done.”