Q. What is your role at Ilixium?
A. “I sit on Ilixium’s board as Chief Operating Officer. As you’d expect, a lot of my time is focused on business operations – however with our specialism in supporting organisations in the gaming and gambling sector, we feel a strong obligation to be a knowledgeable partner when it comes to regulatory matters. So a large part of my role is to steer our approach in compliance.
We believe that to be the best possible partner in payments, Ilixium has to be a compliance-first organisation. I engage legal specialists across our regions of operation, working with them to keep us a step (or several steps) ahead of any changes in either the interpretation or creation of regulation. I believe this is the backbone of many of our longstanding and successful client relationships.”
Q. Why is your role inspiring to you?
A. “Throughout our long heritage as a partner to organisations in this sector, it has been very clear that successful businesses have to mix some science and art. There’s the people, leadership, brand and user experience that helps drive engagement with a platform – and then behind the scenes a very complex mixture of technology, reporting, best practices and commercial agreements. I try to gain a strong understand of what’s happening across these factors. And although my role demands me to be more of the ‘scientist’ I feel I can do my job best when I understand it all.
Over the course of my career, I’ve sought out exposure to different parts of the business. This has allowed me to accrue a wealth of experience across technical operations, financial crime and compliance. This year I completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Governance, Risk and Compliance from the International Compliance Authority – allowing me to combine theoretical best practice with extensive ‘in the field’ experience.”
Q. What are your priorities within the business?
A. “The Ilixium leadership team is very close and collaborative, and we work hard to make sure each person can do their role to its fullest potential. So I ensure that our leadership team has the best access to insights and updates from across the markets in which we operate.
Seeing the complexity that many of our clients face in dealing with regulatory matters, we took the decision to make compliance a strategic enabler for our business. If you’re on top of – and ahead of – compliance requirements, it’s easier to drive growth. We remove a lot of technical and legal barriers from our clients in how they deliver highly appealing and seamless experience to their customers. It essentially my job to ensure we can keep doing that, whatever changes come our way.”
“If you want to make bold or challenging business decisions, the expertise we hold helps safeguard the business.”
Q. How does this help your customers?
A. “The evolution of regulation in the gaming and gambling space has, ultimately, allowed it to expand and bring fun experiences to new audiences. On the ground, at the time, this change can feel challenging. It poses big question about systems, tech, best practices, legal interpretation and a host of factors that seem like serious tripping hazards. While we don’t touch every element of our client’s operations, we do sit at the heart of one of the most important – payments. And our obsessive focus on evolving our capabilities while remaining compliant is a major advantage to our customers.
If you want to make bold or challenging business decisions, the expertise we hold helps safeguard the business. We’re experts in helping our clients build a presence in new markets – something which is highly complex; even finding where to get the right information can be challenging. We like to position ourselves as a provider of both the technology and strategic expertise to make our clients’ growth possible.”
Q. What’s exciting to you about the payments industry?
A. “There are two things I really love doing in my role – learning new things and solving new problems. This has pretty much typified life working with gaming and gambling brands. The industry never stands still, and is constantly developing and improving. Helping businesses get to a point where they’re working seamlessly, responsibly and successfully is a very exciting way to focus my energy.”
