10 Minutes With… Ecogra Director_CEO Andrew Beveridge
by Max Drayman, Winner Online.com
Max Drayman: Tell us a little about your background and your role within 먹튀사이트
♠ Andrew Beveridge: I assumed the role of CEO on a full-time basis in October 2002. I initially embarked on a career in investment banking in London and Hong Kong, having qualified as a Chartered Accountant and complimented this with an MBA. About 8 years ago I became involved with an international supplier of pay-television and interactive services … and subsequently I’ve been extensively involved in a number of online gambling initiatives, including operations and software development. It had been obvious to me for some time that an organization such as eCOGRA could add tremendous value to this industry, and therefore I welcomed the opportunity to become involved as CEO. ….
MD: In 25 words or less, what is eCOGRA?
♠ AB: In a nutshell eCOGRA is a genuine initiative to provide real regulation of quality online casinos through internationally set standards enforced by independent inspection and monitoring, and to provide a dispute resolution service to the player community where issues arise between a casino member and a player that cannot otherwise be satisfactorily settled.
MD: In your words how will eCOGRA benefit the online gaming industry?
♠ AB: Essentially by guiding players to online casinos where they can expect to encounter fair gaming, honest and efficient treatment in all respects and operators that have been thoroughly checked out for financial and personal probity. We do this through our Seal system, and casinos awarded with this mark of quality and safety have had to submit themselves to precise, tough standards of honesty, efficiency and capability set by independent experts. We call these the eGAP or eCOGRA’s Generally Accepted Practices. ..
MD: And how will it benefit the online player?
♠ AB: Players have reached the stage where they demand better treatment. No unreasonably delayed payouts; no questionably disqualified bonuses; no badly applied wager through rules; no ignored emails. They want fair games, financially sound casinos with efficient and responsive Support and an avenue through which legitimate complaints can be independently investigated. All of those legitimate concerns have been front-of-mind in devising the eGAP or standards of eCOGRA and we intend to enforce them with our approved casinos. This is no cosmetic exercise – it is a hard-nosed business approach to providing the consumer (player) with the safe, fair and business-efficient services to which they are entitled in our view.
MD: A number of verification and certification organizations have preceded eCOGRA. Unfortunately most of those have either failed to win widespread player acceptance or collapsed due to internal pressures and mismanagement. How does eCOGRA propose to both win player confidence and survive the considerable pressures of the online gambling scene?
♠ AB: I honestly believe that eCOGRA is on another and significantly higher level than any of our so-called predecessors, and we have strong funding, realistic goals and practical methods of achieving these to the benefit of the player and the Industry. We recognize that misconceptions exist, and we are determined to prove by our conduct and that of our member casinos that we can and will make a positive contribution.
MD: Microgaming Software Systems Ltd. is listed as one of the founding members of eCOGRA and Microgaming casinos were among the first casinos to receive eCOGRA certification. This could be seen as simply a case of a principal online gaming software provider awarding certificates to it’s own licensees through a third entity that it created. What is it about eCOGRA that makes this an incorrect interpretation of those circumstances?
♠ AB: Microgaming and CON (Casino On Net) … had the vision to see that continued malpractice and uncontrolled activity in the Industry hurts everyone. They are sufficiently successful to do something constructive about improving player protection and the regulation of serious minded operators. The initial funding provided by them does not, as some seem to believe, give them control of the organization.
How is eCOGRA’s independence assured? Through the structure of the Board of Directors to whom I am responsible. All decisions regarding how casinos are tested and who gets the Seals and what other software providers and casinos are admitted fall under the control of the three independent directors on the Board. This is clearly set out in the company’s constitution. These are all eminent and well-qualified and experienced professional men, on whom you can find full information at www.ecogra.org. Most important of all – they are all independent of the funding entities.
