The government established Singapore Pools in 1968 to provide a safe, trusted and legal outlet for people to place their bets. The organisation also helps to stem leakages from illegal gambling syndicates and ensures that surplus revenue is channelled back to the community through charities. During the 2019/2020 financial year, the organisation collected close to S$9 billion, with 70% returned to winners, 22% redirected to the Tote Board for re-directing to arts, community development, charity, education, health, sports and other sectors, while 3% is used for operating expenses.
The organisation has been embracing digitalization since 1999, when it started to offer online lottery services to its customers. This enabled people to purchase lottery tickets and make sports bets via their computers or mobile devices. In addition, the organisation has implemented various responsible gambling initiatives to promote healthy gaming practices and help individuals manage their gambling activities.
In addition to its lottery and sports betting operations, Singapore Pools offers a number of other gaming products and services. For instance, it operates iTOTO and Group TOTO, which allow multiple users to participate in the same TOTO draw together. In addition, the organisation offers a wide variety of gaming machines and arcade games, including slots, keno, baccarat, blackjack and roulette.
As a result of these new offerings, Singapore Pools’ revenue has increased by more than 30% in recent years. The company’s strong financial standing provides it with a solid base from which to continue to grow its business in the future.
Singapore Pools has also been focusing on its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. This includes partnering with organisations that share the same values and working towards the same goals. In addition, it has launched initiatives that aim to raise awareness of responsible gambling and encourage its employees to gamble responsibly.
The organisation also maintains a positive workplace culture, which has been recognised with the Employer of Choice award from Human Resources Director Asia in 2020. The recognition is testament to Singapore Pools’ commitment to creating a great place to work for its employees.
In order to improve its IT infrastructure and deliver a more stable betting experience, the organisation migrated from on-premises applications monitoring system to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). The move has allowed them to monitor and analyse the performance of multiple applications in a single dashboard with automated alerts and improved troubleshooting capabilities, cutting down IT support costs by half.
The organisation has continued to invest in its IT infrastructure, and in 2023, it is set to launch a secure, cloud-based betting platform for its players. This will allow players to track their bets and winnings on the go, and to access a wider range of betting games and markets. In addition, the new platform will also allow players to connect with each other and engage in social activities through a dedicated social community. The platform will be available on both iOS and Android platforms.