Data Contracts in Gambling: Key Features of Application

About Data Contracts in the iGaming Sector

These are unified rules for recording all events that occur on digital platforms. They ensure the order, transparency, and a consistent understanding of the obtained details by every employee of an online casino, from technical specialists to managers and strategic planning departments.

What Aspects Are Standardised

Data Contracts set clear rules for all key processes on betting sites:

1. Account replenishment. For each deposit, the user name, settlement method, amount, exact transfer status (initiated, confirmed, completed, declined), provider’s or bank’s response, and other parameters are recorded.
2. Payouts. The system captures information about when a player requested a withdrawal, who approved it, when the funds were sent, the response from the PSP or bank, whether there was a delay, why it happened, etc.
3. Know-Your-Customer. Every step in the identity verification process is also recorded. This includes details on document loading, additional checks, and the approval or rejection of the KYC application.

Who Uses Data Contract

All events (from making a deposit to launching a game and receiving bonuses) are rounded off by a final status that is understood by:

• technical support;
• finance department;
• business analysts;
• external parties (PSP agents, auditors, and regulators).

Thanks to a systematic approach, possible incidents can be easily put together, avoiding any discrepancies in the future.

When all events (logins, logouts, and launches) are recorded in the same way, support staff can see the complete path of clients, the history of their gaming sessions, and the exact stage at which the problem occurred. It allows issues to be resolved in 1–2 minutes, without errors or data search through 5 systems.

Analysts and financiers use the same information as technical support. Thanks to this, operators do not often have to face challenges such as different amounts in reports, distinct status interpretations (success, failed, or pending), and disappearing transactions.

Disagreements between departments also go away, as do mistakes when calculating key performance metrics (LTV, ARPU, and ROI).

Why Data Contracts Are Important for Gambling

The modern online casino industry is a huge ecosystem that combines:

• dozens of PSP providers;
• different laws and regulators across countries;
• a large number of internal services;
• technical support, risk management, marketing, BI, and compliance teams.

In such an environment, things can easily get chaotic. Data can be in conflict, incidents are sometimes recorded differently, and statuses may be interpreted in various ways, as each department can have its version of the same events.

Data Contracts provide a comprehensive solution to this problem by performing the following actions:

1. Information structuring. All key aspects (deposits, withdrawals, rewards, errors, delays) are recorded according to uniform rules. The details obtained can be used by different divisions of the company and its counterparties.
2. Protection against errors. One incorrect status can lead to overpayments on bonuses, duplicated charges, inaccurate fees to PSP agents, gaps in reports, fines, and penalties. Data Contracts help operators avoid such mistakes and financial risks.
3. Simplification of control. Casino owners can have 10–25 payment partners, several fallback scenarios, separate KYC platforms, and AML triggers for different target markets. The solution systematises all this data, making events easy to compare. Besides, possible incidents are investigated much faster.

How Technology Helps Combat Scams

Data Contracts make information understandable and unambiguous, increasing the effectiveness of anti-fraud services.

Detection of Suspicious Behaviour

When all deposits, withdrawals, and errors are recorded in the same way, the system easily notices:

• identical amounts;
• similar patterns of activity;
• interconnected accounts;
• mass quick withdrawals;
• suspiciously frequent mistakes from a single PSP agent and other fraudulent patterns.

Multi-accounts and bonus hunters are immediately identified, after which additional verification is launched.

Reduction of Losses Caused by Chargebacks

When operators provide a complete and accurate history of transactions in disputes with banks, the chances of receiving a refund increase drastically.

Improved Fault Tolerance of Digital Platforms

Data Contracts translate information from various sources (affiliated services, financial institutions, hosting providers) into a single, easy-to-digest format. This reduces the risk of legitimate players being blocked, the likelihood of technical failures, and other inaccuracies in the work of online casino resources.

Decrease in the Number of Grey Areas in Payments

In gambling, there may be transactions that:

• have no final status;
• have inconsistent amounts;
• are duplicated;
• are not connected with players.

Fraudsters make use of these “gaps” to steal personal details of casino visitors. Data Contracts protect business owners from such risks, as each transaction is linked to specific clients and their PSP agents.

Why Gambling Commissions Are Interested in the Technology

Operators must adhere to strict regulatory rules:

• verify the identity of players, source of income, and history of money transfers;
• maintain logs of transactions, deposits, withdrawals, refusals, chargebacks, and errors;
• explain delays and problems with payments, as well as frequent refunds.

If the information obtained is scattered or incomplete, it will be quite difficult for entrepreneurs to prove that their work is honest and transparent. This increases the risk of complaints, fines, blocking, and even refusals to grant a licence.

Data Contracts significantly reduce regulatory risks. Casino owners receive a unified and unambiguous format for all transactions, which can be easily exported in reporting. This includes detailed statistics on user verification, withdrawals, playtime, bonuses, and other aspects of the digital platform’s activity.

Leading gambling regulators (MGA, UKGC, and others) require providers to not only carry out AML and KYC procedures, but also to be able to prove transaction history, payment details, identity verification, and transparent movement of funds.

iGaming portals that integrate compliance, AML, KYC, and money transfers into a single ecosystem are perceived as more mature and reliable. Clear logs and statuses in reporting also minimise the risk of fines, blockages, and reputational damage.

The Future of Data Contracts in the Entertainment Niche

In 5–7 years, this technology will cease to be a “thing of advanced companies" and will become as mandatory as Know-Your-Customer or Anti-Money Laundering tools.

The gradual implementation of the technology is associated with several factors:

1. The growing number of PSPs and new payment schemes. Today, top online casino brands are increasingly switching to local financial services (Pix, PayNearMe, Sofort, iDEAL, and Revolut). They interact with more than 30 PSP agents, manage thousands of accounts, and process millions of transactions. For such companies, Data Contracts are no longer an innovation, but an urgent need.
2. Tightening of regulatory requirements. The UKGC, MGA, and Spelinspektionen are already strengthening control over the sources of funds and demanding confirmation of the transfer status. In a few years, they will start expecting machine-readable transaction logs, which are virtually impossible to produce without the described technology.
3. The appearance of new types of fraud. These include bot farms, synthetic traffic, mass hacker attacks, and other abuses that are very difficult to detect or prevent.

In the future, the gambling industry will see the automation of Data Contracts. Such systems can automatically describe the structure of events, correct false information, and generate standardised reports without manual intervention.

Experts predict that the solution will become a mandatory requirement of licensing authorities. There may also be stricter standards installed for deposits, withdrawals, and KYC mechanisms, as well as automatic uploading of all the details for external audits.

The Main Things about Data Contracts in iGaming

The tool represents uniform rules for recording all events on casino portals.

Key aspects that operators should take into account:

• The approach ensures order, transparency, and a common understanding of data across all company staff. The innovation facilitates communication between different departments and simplifies external audits.
• Data Contracts are an indispensable mechanism in the fight against fraudsters. The technology helps quickly identify problematic behaviour, reduce losses related to chargebacks, and decrease the number of complaints from customers.

Our platform is available in 3 basic versions: for land-based locations, desktop sites, and mobile devices. The gaming system comes along with licensed content and a secure payment gateway.