Western betting operators have had mixed results in the Asian online market because many try to use a Western, relatively impersonal approach to managing customer relationships, says one of the region’s leading experts.
Jose Mari Ponce is Administrator and CEO of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in the Philippines, the only jurisdiction in the region issuing formal licenses for online gaming.
Secretary Ponce was speaking exclusively to Clarion Events in the run up Clarion’s Asian iGaming Congress in Manila from 9th to 11th of March–an event hosted this year by CEZA.
Asked why many Western operators had been unsuccessful in expanding into the Asian market, Mr Ponce replied: “I think that one major factor is the system of credit.
“Western operators concentrated on payment collection through credit cards, Asian operators utilised the agency system. In the agency system, an agent has around 40-50 clients; they take commission from having to guarantee payments for these players. Western operators cannot understand the risks involved in the agency system, or are not keen on taking on such risks,” added Mr Ponce.
“Of the 42 licensees that we have [in CEZA], it is safe to say that 10 were former agents. They have grown and decided to become gaming operators.
“Just like any other gaming operator/player relationship, the element of trust is there.
Whereas if it were a Western operator, the element of trust is [sometimes] missing. The more successful operators in our jurisdiction are those who used to operate outside the Philippines, and who decided to consolidate everything, every aspect of operation in the Philippines.”
Secretary Ponce was asked what were the common factors that had helped to produce success in Asian online betting markets for brands such as MANSION, 188bet or SBObet.
“For MANSION, 188bet, SBObet, their strength basically was in their database system,” he stated.
“They used to be operating outside the Philippines, but were not hosted in specific jurisdictions and weren’t as organised [in Asia]. Upon entering the Philippines, all they had to do was to professionalise their system and tap the same database they [already] had,” said Mr Ponce.
For the full interview with Secretary Ponce and more details on AiG, including the full programme and speaker panel, log on to www.aigcongress.com.
