How open banking is solving iGaming's biggest headaches
In the ever-shifting landscape of online gambling, few areas cause as many headaches as payments and compliance. For operators, striking a balance between seamless deposits, fraud prevention, and responsible gambling requirements is a constant juggle.
At a recent industry event, SiGMA News caught up with Amie Kadhim, Head of Commercial at , an award-winning fintech company using open banking and AI to solve not just one but several core industry pain points in one fell swoop. And it makes for some really interesting reading.
Here, Amie talks about a data-powered approach, how their tool is helping departments work together, and why a government grant has helped them prove that open banking has much more to offer the gambling sector than just fast payments.
Q: What problems are open banking and AI solving in iGaming?
A: There’s no one silver bullet in this space. That’s actually what makes our product exciting; it tackles a few critical things at once. We mainly focus on cross-departmental communication, enabling compliance, commercial, and payment teams to work from a unified view of the player.
Responsible gambling is another big one; our product can identify potential harm much earlier, with real-time insights at the point of deposit. And in terms of regulatory compliance, open banking can provide verified, risk-rated data without increasing friction.
What’s also really compelling is that we can provide anonymous, pan-operator insights. This means that we can identify that a player is actively using 10 other platforms, for example, which in itself isn’t harmful, but it tells you a lot about their experience level, spending habits, and potential value or risk.
Q: Isn’t open banking just for payments?
A: That’s a common misconception. We’ve heard “We already have open banking” a lot. But Yaspa goes far beyond the basics of deposit and withdrawal. We combine open banking data with AI and financial health insights to support affordability, source-of-funds checks, and even AML detection.
We’re the only provider marrying payment data with safer gambling insights, and we’ve built our categorisation engine in-house to keep everything efficient and robust.
Q: How does the platform help operators identify problem gambling instantly?
A: We’re enabling operators to intervene earlier without being intrusive. So, instead of waiting until gameplay patterns trigger concern, our tool spots financial vulnerability at the deposit stage.
Our AI cleanses and categorises data in real-time, flagging concerning patterns without overwhelming operators with raw information. This means spotting things like deposit chasing, overdraft use, or sudden lifestyle changes early. And with input from academics and safer gambling experts, we’ve trained the model to support nuanced, platform-specific insights. We’re even developing traffic-light risk indicators tailored to each operator’s context.
Because all of this is integrated into the payment journey, there’s no need to upload bank statements or jump through hoops; players don’t even leave the flow.
It’s about being proactive instead of reactive, and it makes compliance teams more confident while preserving a smooth UX.
Q: Can products like Yaspa reduce reliance on traditional KYC tools?
A: In some areas, yes, and in time, even more so. For now, it complements existing KYC tools by adding intelligence at the deposit level. For example, while bank data might not always give you a full name and DOB, it can be layered with other tools to build a more accurate picture. The real strength is in combining identity with real-time behavioural and financial insight.
Q: Yaspa received a UK government grant, what message does this send to the industry?
A: Yes, we won a competitive Innovate UK government grant to accelerate the development of our player protection tools. At first, we weren’t sure if iGaming would be seen as too risky, but the pitch resonated.
The evaluators saw real value in what we were doing, not just preventing harm, but also supporting good players without disrupting their experience. The grant backed our vision of using real-time banking data for early intervention and smart personalisation.
Q: What kind of data does Yaspa provide to operators?
A: We provide identity verification, financial vulnerability insights, affordability and lifestyle spending analysis, pan-operator deposit behaviour, source of funds verification, and fraud and AML detection (e.g., multi-accounting, bonus abuse).
All of this is anonymous, consented to, and filtered for relevance. Operators aren’t bombarded with data, they’re empowered with actionable intelligence.
Q: Are operators already using your platform?
A: Yes. Yaspa’s been operating for seven years, and this tool builds on our foundation of tying identity and payments together. Our CEO, James Neville, had this vision from the start, and now the industry is finally ready for it.
We’re working with UK operators today, and there’s huge interest from Europe. Operators are telling us that other tools give them static data, or data they can’t act on quickly. Ours is real-time, integrated, and genuinely helpful across departments.
Q: What’s next for Yaspa and open banking?
A: We see this evolving into a harmonising force within online gambling businesses. When commercial, compliance, and payments teams can all view the same enriched data, you break down silos and make faster, smarter decisions.
Our short-term goal is to get more operators into this proactive mindset. In the long term, we envision even stronger AI categorisation, deeper bank data access, and more meaningful ways to serve both vulnerable and VIP players responsibly.
