As the CasinoBeats Summit gets underway in an innovative integrated live and digital format, we caught up with Roberto Regianini, CEO of event sponsor FBMDS.

The group, which aims to bring “an innovative and fresh vision to the challenging universe of online casino gaming,” elaborates on an aim of utilising land-based experience in an online environment, the “essential step” of a Malta Gaming Authority licence, and key regions of focus.

CasinoBeats: For the benefit of our readers, could you please tell us a little more about the background of the company?

Roberto Regianini: FBMDS is a new brand that gathers the legacy of FBM’s 20 successful years in the land-based market with an innovative approach to online casino gaming. Its diverse portfolio of online casino games merges FBM’s pioneer video bingos with a vast selection of products covering the slots, table games, and video poker categories.

FBM’s vast knowledge in different markets lives on this new venture of FBMDS, which uses this know-how to present a range of innovative games attending to the players’ profile and the specific needs of each country. The innovative and pioneer Banca Francesa is one great example of the understanding of the Portuguese players’ needs.

The diverse portfolio and the superior knowledge of its operating markets give a fast-paced expansion rhythm to FBMDS, allowing the brand to spread its games across the world and bring new emotions and better gaming experiences to online casino players.

CB: Earlier this year, your digital division gained an MGA licence which was praised as “a credibility stamp,” how the key was this in the future expansion of the department? How would you assess the process to achieve accreditation? 

RR: The concession of the Malta Gaming Authority license was an essential step for the solidification of the FBM Digital Systems expansion strategy.

The process of obtaining this license is demanding, but we believe that’s the reason why all the industry recognizes a huge relevance of the MGA license in order to establish a global online casino operation. For us, it was a long-term collaborative journey that ended perfectly, giving FBM Digital Systems the necessary push to unleash all its growth potential.

Obtaining the Malta Gaming Authority license also gave FBM Digital Systems a bigger power of negotiation with clients due to the fact that the license allows operators to access a greater sample of potential partners, confirming once again the quality and reliability of FBMDS’ portfolio brand.

CB: What would you say is the focus of the division? And what can the industry expect?

RR: The FBMDS focus is to grow and take the brand and this diverse portfolio of online casino games to more and more casinos, but the goal is not to grow just in terms of number of integrations. FBMDS is deeply committed to becoming much more than a commodity games supplier! 

Our plan is to use the intelligence and knowledge that we have from each market to bring innovation in different game types and build products that add value to the online casino’s portfolio and the gaming sessions of their players at the same time. That’s the future we are pursuing.

The FBMDS portfolio covers different categories, and we want to reinforce it by creating games made of cutting-edge technology and capable of attending to specific market desires. We believe that we achieved that with Banca Francesa in Portugal and with our selection of video bingos in several markets of LatAm. And these are two examples that we want to keep as references for the future of the brand.

CB: LatAm, Spain and Portugal are to form key regions of focus, why is this so? How much importance will be placed upon localisation and why? 

RR: There is a clear synergy between FBMDS and these specific markets, mainly because of two reasons: these are markets where we have good networks due to the land-based legacy, and we know them well thanks to the knowledge that we have inside the FBM group. Consequently, we are aware of what players in these countries and regions expect and want to play, making them natural targets for FBMDS brand.

Looking specifically for each of the mentioned markets, we decided to try Portugal because we knew the players’ preferences, and we knew that we could make a difference with table games – especially with Blackjack and Banca Francesa.

In Spain and LatAm, FBM has already established land-based operations, and we know that players love video bingo games. Additionally, Spain and Colombia, for instance, are countries with similar technical criteria, so we decided to take leverage of this fact and try to expand FBMDS’ presence in both markets.

In terms of relevance, we always have a dedicated and proximity approach with all the FBMDS partners independently of the market involved. Our mindset is to look for good business opportunities, where we know that FBMDS can join the industry and make the difference by bringing novelties to the offer of online casinos or improvements in the players’ experiences.