One-stop shop for operators: PIN-UP Global’s 360-solution
In 2022, a study by BIA Advisory services forecast that operators in North America would spend an estimated $1.8bn on marketing alone. Meanwhile security is a huge focus with cyberattacks in the industry increasing by a reported 1,000% annually, costing operators millions for each breach. Add to this operators’ focus on customer service to ensure player retention in the face of the rising costs of acquiring new ones, and it’s easy to see why PIN-UP Global’s 360-solution is an attractive proposition for operators.
PIN-UP Global to the rescue
Launched in 2016 and now presenting in six different countries, PIN-UP Global is a diverse independent companies in both geography and its offering. Seven different segments make up its ecosystem (what the brand refers to as a business online entertainment system or BOES), allowing operators to find the solution to their biggest gaming challenges. The 360-solution provided by the members of PIN-UP Global is a one-stop shop that saves operators valuable time – and money.
The seven segments, each designed to provide expertise and assistance, are: PIN-UP Business, PIN-UP Tech, PIN-UP Care, PIN-UP Traffic, PIN-UP CRM, PIN-UP Team and PIN-UP Play.
“Right now, the seven different lines of business interact with each other both as partners sharing expertise, and as competitors striving for results”, says Marina Ilina.
“They all share the same goal and common values that unite the team despite being spread across the world and different time zones. The ecosystem companies are segmented and its main task is to provide full-cycle services in-house. This is our main advantage – partners do not have to worry about how to enter the market, launch a product and promote it. In the seven years of our existence, we have built a system that works continuously and greatly facilitates the process of launching new entertainment products.”
Being able to offer this service has allowed PIN-UP Global to attract new clients through its growing reputation.
“In terms of attracting new partners, we are industry leaders and partners come to us because of the quality and service we offer.”
PIN-UP Global: Evolving to meet customer requirements
PIN-UP Global places great emphasis on customer feedback and is constantly evolving to ensure its services meet the requirements and standards desired by its expanding client base. An outstanding UX is at the centre of this.
“Our platforms already have an intuitive interface, great graphics and impeccable functionality. However, we’re not resting on our laurels and have already released a redesign of our product to make the interface even more ergonomic and stylish,” – Marina Ilina says.
Getting to the heart of what players, and therefore operators, desire is key to ensuring its proposition meets the levels required. Take payments, for example, where a study carried out in 2022 by PayNearMe showed that 52% of bettors have experienced issues when it comes to depositing or withdrawing money online. Marina Ilina believes PIN-UP Global is making a smooth payment solution a priority on its platforms.
“Our products offer a variety of payment methods, fast payouts and a high level of security to protect customers’ personal information. Our team of operators is always ready to provide support and assistance. We are also developing a special service system for VIP customers to emphasise their importance.”
The player experience and customer journey that operators offer is clearly vital, both in attracting new users and retaining current players. PIN-UP Global’s diverse service offering operators to achieve this.
“Of course, our product’s global presence, multi-language support, acceptance of multiple currencies and availability of the most popular and sought-after games around the world is also attractive,” Marina Ilina explains. “Soon we will also be introducing exciting gamification to our users to help them diversify their time on our platforms.”
PIN-UP’s global footprint
PIN-UP Global has eight different offices split across six countries and is currently home to more than 2,000 professionals. There’s an office in Armenia, Cyprus, Peru and Poland, and two in each of Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
With offices across Europe, Peru and Asia it’s an ecosystem that is quite literally going places, and key for many operators who benefit from having a partner that understands the target audience and local market.
As well as being present in multiple countries, PIN-UP Global works across many sectors of the industry offering solutions in casino and sportsbooks, which Marina Ilina believes is key to solving partners’ individual challenges.
“We place equal importance on all countries we are present in,” she says. “We invest the same amount of resource and effort in each partner and product because we value our reputation based primarily on quality.
“All companies in the ecosystem are guided by our values when doing business, which allows us to standardise processes across all markets. We are always result-oriented and achieve high performance with our professional team due to their high speed of work, perseverance and commitment.
“In addition, each partner and product is assigned to a specific team who work hard on their own projects, rather than spreading their attention across different projects and countries, so we can achieve our goals faster.”
Finding a partner that offers operators a full hands-on approach and dedicated specialists is a huge advantage in an industry as substantial as igaming, and that’s something PIN-UP Global strive to offer even as the igaming industry continues to grow.
The growth of the igaming industry continues
Total gambling revenue for 2023 is predicted to hit $483bn (£481.83bn/€486.21bn) according to H2 Gambling Capital. As this growth continues so too will the demands from operators on companies which already are or attend to be a part of PIN-UP Global. Marina Ilina explains how the ecosystem is meeting this challenge by aiming to surpass the increased level of expectation.
“In general, we are in the process of updating and improving our platforms to not only meet the needs of our customers in a rapidly evolving market, but to exceed their expectations.
“We are developing proprietary tools, most of which have never been seen before in the market. For example, anti-fraud tools that allow us to improve the risk assessment of transactions. We will now use not only traditional approaches, but also machine learning to achieve greater accuracy in fraud prevention at various customer touchpoints.”
With increased growth comes increased challenges, especially when there’s a spotlight on technology in the igaming sector. Though these tools help solve some of operators’ biggest challenges, they come with their own pain points, like the increased threat of cyberattacks.
PIN-UP Global: Tackling fraud with AI
Fraud continues to be a big issue in the igaming industry. In Q1 of 2022 fraud went up by over 50% when compared with the same time period in 2021, and it’ll be of great comfort to operators to see the steps PIN-UP Global are taking with new technologies in order to tackle the problem.
Another hot topic in the igaming industry of late is the introduction of AI (artificial intelligence), something PIN-UP Global is looking to integrate to streamline and accelerate its customer service offering.
“We’ve incorporated artificial intelligence in our contact centres which makes it possible to reduce the use of human resources in routine tasks. We train it to cover a large audience simultaneously as it informs customers, serves chats faster, responds to requests and much more.”
PIN-UP going even more global
Not content with its current offering, PIN-UP Global plans to expand due to the increased demand it has enjoyed over the course of 2023. With two more premises in the pipeline, Marina Ilina hopes this will help set up 2024 as a hugely successful year for PIN-UP Global.
“We are actively expanding and will continue to do so. In the near future we plan to open a new office in India and another one in Kazakhstan. The work is already underway, and I believe everything will be in place by the end of the year.”
As gambling continues to be regulated at a varying pace across the world, entering new markets is always a hot topic for operators. Brazil’s long-awaited journey into regulated sports betting has begun and the North American market continues to grow at a rapid rate. Marina Ilina discusses how PIN-UP Global is approaching new markets and how its offering provides operators with the tools needed to succeed there.
“Conquering markets is a challenge for every member of the ecosystem and every line of business. On a global scale, the PIN-UP ecosystem provides the basis for such ambitions. As an ecosystem, we work with the concept of geographical presence. This means that our employees work in the offices of the ecosystem members.
“Sometimes this doesn’t even mean competing for the market in one geolocation or another, but simply setting up new offices to make it easier to work with partners in certain parts of the world. This allows us to build partnerships in the right regions and expand our global footprint to better serve our customers.”
Going beyond the ecosystem
PIN-UP Global is very ambitious and Marina Ilina suggests there is more to come. Expanding its influence and expertise beyond its current core offer is one area that could be explored.
“At the moment, the ecosystem’s products portfolio includes platforms for online casino and sports betting, but I do not exclude that we will have other entertainment products in the future,” she says.
“In addition, we have our own developments and tools that not only support and technically facilitate the use of a website or application by customers, but also help build a more efficient team. We may even go beyond the ecosystem and offer them to other operators.”
Having expert help in all areas within igaming is clearly vital for operators. PIN-UP Global’s ecosystem solution offers peace of mind and helps to solve operators’ biggest cost and resourcing challenges.