ClearStake has expanded its commercial advisory capability by appointing Luke Cousins to support the continued rollout of its player verification technology in the UK iGaming market.
Cousins joins ClearStake in an advisory capacity, bringing more than 15 years of experience across business development, recruitment and consultancy roles within the gambling and technology sectors.
Most recently, he served as Commercial Director at Playbook Engineering, a role he held for more than two years. His previous experience also includes time at Pentasia, alongside advisory work for companies such as Unikrn, Hypometer Technologies and Moja Group.
At ClearStake, Cousins will focus on supporting the commercial deployment of the company’s ID by Bank product, which uses open banking technology to verify player identities.
The supplier said the solution has already been adopted by several UK operators, where it is being used to reduce fraud and improve first-time depositor conversion by streamlining the verification process.
Luke Cousins, ClearStake Advisor, said: “ClearStake is tackling one of the most persistent problems in UK iGaming – player drop-off at the point of verification. ID by Bank is a genuinely practical solution that improves conversion without compromising on compliance.”
Cousins added: “My focus will be on supporting the commercial rollout and helping the team scale adoption with operators who are under increasing pressure to do more with less.”
ClearStake CEO Martin Burt said: “Luke brings a deep understanding of how operators actually buy, deploy and measure technology, which is exactly what we need at this stage of our growth.”
Burt added: “His experience across recruitment, supplier and operator-facing roles gives him a unique perspective and we’re delighted to have him supporting our commercial strategy as we continue to scale ID by Bank in the UK market.”
The appointment follows a £1.5m ($2m) funding round completed in November, which ClearStake said has enabled increased investment across its commercial and advisory functions.
In December, the company also added former NetEnt, Quickspin and Aspire Global executive Paul Myatt to support sales and marketing activity, while former Bede Gaming executive Alistair Boston-Smith joined as Strategy Advisor.
Identity verification remains a key area of focus across regulated markets. In December, MC Games and PlayBet implemented automated biometric and behavioural verification tools supplied by Legitimuz, replacing manual checks in an effort to reduce fraud while minimising player friction.
UK operators are facing growing regulatory scrutiny around affordability, identity checks and fraud prevention, increasing demand for verification tools that balance compliance requirements with customer experience
