What Is Identity Management & How Is It Impacting the Gaming Industry in 2022?

Identity management is a critical component of the gaming industry. Casinos and resorts need the right checks and balances in place in order to protect their assets, minimize security risks, and ensure compliance with ever-evolving gaming regulations.

That said, identity management presents its fair share of challenges for casino security teams. Many casinos lack the tools they need to screen patrons effectively and efficiently, and evolving regulatory mandates, risk of fraud, and the potential for hefty fines for noncompliance spotlight a clear need to improve operations.

Learn more about identity management: what it is, how it’s impacting the gaming industry in 2022, and what security teams can do to keep the casino floor safe.

What Is Identity Management in the Gaming Industry?

In the gaming industry, identity management consists of the processes, policies, and technologies casinos put in place to identify and authenticate their patrons. There are countless benefits to effective identity management in the gaming industry today, which empowers casinos and resorts to:

Identify and authorize customers right at the casino entrance.

Identity management policies and technologies enable casinos to identify and authorize each and every patron, tightening entryway security to better protect employees and guests as well as the business as a whole. 

Pinpoint and circumvent suspicious activity and transactions.

With the right identity management protocols in place, casinos and resorts can easily ban certain patrons and identify known thieves at the establishment’s entrance, greatly minimizing fraud risk and other security-related concerns.

Comply with Know Your Customer mandates and avoid fines.

Some gamblers make the choice to intentionally stay below the $10,000 Know Your Customer (KYC) threshold to avoid reporting their winnings. Identity management systems use face-matching technology to recognize, track, and learn more about customers.

Create a safer environment to enhance the guest experience.

Successful identity management allows casinos to create a safer environment for all employees and guests. Quite simply, enhanced security protocols enhance the guest experience by excluding bad actors and preserving gaming integrity for all.

Effective Identity Management in the COVID-19 Era

Protecting the casino is your first priority on the security team. To do so effectively, you need to know who your customers are—the good gamblers, the bad actors, and most importantly the VIPs. That’s why identity management plays such a key role in casino operations.

Effective identity management is essential in order for casinos and resorts to protect their assets, minimize fraud risk, and create a safer environment that enhances the guest experience. Casinos attract all sorts of patrons who don’t always exhibit the best behavior.

Plus, with so much cash changing hands at all times, there’s a lot on the line. Security staff members need a way to quickly and accurately monitor all guests as they enter and engage. In addition to guest monitoring, identity management is essential for evidence gathering—should you find yourself in court, you’ll have the documented evidence you need to make your case.

There are also compliance mandates, such as self-exclusion: State regulators require casinos to provide an option for those who wish to self-exclude, helping to ensure that they do not gamble. Failing to properly identify casino patrons and comply with regulatory requirements can have serious consequences, including hefty fines.

And it isn’t only about mitigating fraud risk and ensuring compliance. Casinos and resorts can also benefit greatly from recognizing high-value players they might want to engage and develop relationships with.

Tackling the COVID-19 Mask Challenge with eConnect

Identity management presents many challenges—especially in the COVID-19 era. The pandemic has only exacerbated existing identity management challenges. Most casinos and resorts still have mask mandates in place, which makes it difficult to screen patrons at the entrance. And although facial recognition software has come a long way, even the most advanced systems tend to have limitations.

That’s where eConnect comes in: eConnect’s identity management suite is designed to accurately identify each individual—including masked patrons—by matching facial features captured on video with an available photo database during each and every transaction, whether someone is entering the establishment, playing their favorite games, purchasing food or beverages, or cashing out at the cage to call it a day.

eConnect’s facial recognition cameras detect faces when someone is wearing a mask by using the 42 points about the nose to face-match and verify each patron’s identity. Upgrading our customers’ identity management technology and operations has proven a huge success everywhere it has been deployed. But don’t just take our word for it.

Using eConnect’s identity management suite, a major resort casino was able to rapidly identify guests, streamline operations, and achieve a significant return on investment (ROI). In fact, our customer saved a whopping $113,450 within just 30 days of implementing our facial recognition technology—and your business could be next.

Want to learn more about identity management in the gaming industry? Watch our “Facial Recognition - Beyond Human Limitations with AI” webinar for helpful insights into how AI is combating human limitations for greater identity management accuracy.

Watch Our Facial Recognition Webinar