Technology influences all the spheres of people’s lives and the gambling industry is not an exception. There are countries where it shapes the future of the whole industry, and New Zealand is one of them. It is not a secret there are official online casinos operating in the country known as Kiwis and players adore playing there. Furthermore, there is a tendency to visit numerous offshore casinos and enjoy gambling in them as well. But what has changed in New Zealand thanks to technology? And what can players expect in the future? Let’s find out.
Modern gambling trends in New Zealand
The government of the country prohibits setting up new online casinos, but the fact that thousands of players attend international gambling platforms encouraged the New Zealand government to launch a public consultation and test public support for regulating modern ways of online gambling. As a result, there were three gambling ways offered to the state authorities to solve the problem:
- Full legalization of the industry;
- Partial legalization;
- Offering a gambling monopoly.
Modern gambling trends in New Zealand are connected with the growth in the number of mobile-friendly games and financial transactions processed with the help of mobile gadgets. According to NZ Gambling Organizations, transactions processed to casinos on mobile phones take 70% of the total number.
Another latest direction to characterize online gambling is crypto deposits. Modern platforms accept deposits and payout winnings in popular cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, LTC, and others. The only problem connected with this way of processing payments is the problem of the state regulations, so, probably, the government of New Zealand will solve this problem too.
What to expect from NZ online gambling due to the impact of technology?
Despite the fact that technology is blamed for the loss of people’s ability to focus without distraction, it has also changed gambling for the best too. Now when people can enjoy playing in trusted NZ casinos for real money without leaving their homes, there are many other ways technology can improve the gambling experience. New Zealand has become one of the countries that decided to benefit from technology and take the gambling industry to the next level.
1. Facial recognition
Gambling can cause addiction and not everyone can cope with the problem or even admit it. Therefore, despite rather low problem gambling rates, the country invested in the development of the Guardian system. It uses innovative facial recognition technology to scan people who enter gambling venues and check their images against a cloud-based voluntary database of problem gamblers. It has already been tried in 10 venues and soon, it will be implemented in over 1,200 gambling destinations operating across the country.
The Gambling Act (2003) allows players to exclude from gambling at online casinos for up to 2 years. It can be done through the casino manager or treatment provider. However, when a person can’t cope with this problem, this new system can prevent this person from the temptation. Such a system is already used in airports and was developed by the same company. It is an exclusive solution with a ‘multi-venue, multi-camera, multi-city approach’. The only things required are a photo of the person and his ID. Using this information casino managers or treatment providers can log into the system and request exclusion for multiple venues if necessary.
2. Virtual and augmented reality
It is no longer surprising to see VR online casinos that offer an experience similar to the one you can get in land-based venues. Such casinos allow holding real virtual cards, play against real opponents, and enjoy an immersive experience that can be hardly compared with anything else.
New Zealand has also made one step towards the development of AR/VR gambling and created a VR/AR Association (NZVRARA). It is going to promote local tech sectors all around the country and behind its borders. A big emphasis will be made on the gaming and entertainment industry too.
3. Biometrics
One more innovative feature of casinos operating in New Zealand is biometrics. Players share a good deal of personal and often confidential data with casinos. There are chances that this data can be hacked and stolen, so the use of biometrics is meant for preserving this data anonymous and useless for criminals due to its impersonality.
Now it is clear that gambling in New Zealand has undergone significant changes caused by technological advancement. The country tries not only to introduce higher security levels and improve responsible gaming but also make playing much more exciting and entertaining.
