Analysis: The thinking behind William Hill's new Priority Access card
William Hillâs Innovation Product Lead Alex Rutherford discusses the operatorâs new Priority Access card and why it is important to make winnings mobile too
One of the main complaints we were hearing from customers was that the online banking process basically wasnât satisfactory. Customers would say we were very quick to take their money but theyâd have to wait three to five days when they wanted to withdraw their winnings. They didnât perceive that as being the fault of the banks; it was the bookies who got the blame. A lot of people are used to betting on track or betting in shops and having an instant payout, so we wanted to bring that online and to mobile.
Our Priority Access card links directly to customersâ William Hill balances. It is a prepaid MasterCard® which is already rolled out to our VIPs. We are already looking at ways we can support it within our apps and other places we can enable it. We think the card really goes the distance in solving the problem of getting winnings to punters instantly. It will give customers a phenomenal betting experience. You can be in a pub for the Champions League and pay off your tab with your winnings at the end of the night, or back a winner in the day and have a present delivered to your wife before youâre home. Itâs your money, so we arenât tying you into shop opening times.
The card came about after a very intense three day workshop. The aim by the end was to actually have a working card and see the money coming out of a William Hill account and being spent directly. That was a fantastic kickstarter for the project. After that we began working with partners, manufacturers and all the other different parties involved to make it a reality.
Weâve found that customers with the card transact more often with us. They are more likely to retain a balance in their account and their betting activity is increasing because they know the cash is there and they donât have to wait five days for a withdrawal release. We are giving them fewer reasons to go and bet with someone else. The early feedback weâve received has been extremely positive and weâre seeing punters that already look very engaged with it. Weâre planning a wider roll-out probably by the start of the new football season.
The card fits in with our broader mobile strategy. It is all part of the âbet anywhereâ principle that I think has become more prevalent due to the rise of mobile. Everything was quite isolated to a desktop machine before mobile really took off. This absolutely fits in with customersâ expectations for a quicker and instant product. The card is a facilitator, really. In future it might be through a phone or something else, but itâs fundamentally linking your William Hill account to your winnings, wherever you happen to be.