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LONDON, UK (2nd February, 2026) - Yaspa, a leading fintech specializing in payments and identity solutions, today announces it has become a founding member of the newly launched AI Research Hub (AiR Hub) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) International Gaming Institute (IGI). This collaboration underscores Yaspa’s commitment to integrating next-generation financial technology with academic research to foster a safer, more sustainable gambling environment.
The UNLV International Gaming Institute (IGI) established the AiR Hub to advance the industry’s understanding of the impacts, risks, and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. Co-founded by Kasra Ghaharian, IGI Director of Research, and industry veteran Simo Dragicevic, the initiative serves as a collaborative ecosystem designed to accelerate the adoption of trusted, responsible AI across the global gaming sector.
Yaspa joins a prestigious group of founding members, including Aristocrat, Evoke Plc, Playtech Plc, and the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA). This diverse coalition is tasked with ensuring that AI development in the sector is grounded in cross-disciplinary expertise.
AiR Hub’s flagship project is the "State of AI in Gaming" report, a first-of-its-kind annual study indexing company AI maturity, as well as tracking regulatory and policy developments. Through this and related projects, AiR Hub seeks to drive innovation and help ensure AI-driven systems are governed appropriately within this highly regulated industry.
As a founding member, Yaspa brings its in-house AI expertise to guide the Hub’s research initiatives, drawing from its experience in developing the technology behind its Intelligent Payments platform and proprietary machine learning categorizer. To support this mission, Max Collinge, Yaspa’s Vice President of Product, will join the AiR Hub Advisory Panel. Collectively, panel members help steer the Hub’s initiatives, ensuring they maintain deep industry relevance.
"Joining AiR Hub as a founding member reflects Yaspa’s commitment to leveraging the synergy between AI and open banking data to drive a more sustainable gambling ecosystem," said Max Collinge.
"By utilizing deep financial insights through AI-driven analysis, we can deliver significantly better outcomes for players and operators alike. I am personally thrilled to join the Advisory Panel to help shape this next phase of collaboration and ensure research leads to practical, responsible innovation."
Kasra Ghaharian, Director of Research, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, International Gaming Institute, commented, “Fintech and AI are two of the most transformative technologies in the world today, and their impact on the gaming industry will undoubtedly continue to be profound. The richness of this data provides intriguing potential across the value chain, particularly regarding consumer protection and compliance. I am excited to see how we can help drive thought leadership for the industry at the intersection of these two technologies.”
Simo Dragicevic, IGI Adjunct Fellow, said, “Yaspa is building the industry’s open banking orchestration layer for player insights and risk assessment. Their expertise in payments, technology and risk will add significant value to the AiR Hub Advisory Panel and we look forward to collaborating with Yaspa as we execute our mission to develop the industry’s ecosystem for collaborative AI research.”
About Yaspa
Yaspa is an award-winning fintech that delivers personal intelligence through instant payments. Founded in 2017 by a former Worldpay CTO, Yaspa blends open banking and AI to provide Intelligent Payments: real-time bank payments (Pay by Bank) combined with verified customer insights, as well as a full suite of payment and account verification services. Yaspa operates across the UK, Europe and US, with offices in London, Leeds and Atlanta, and is regulated by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.
Yaspa has been named Best Payment Solutions Provider at the 2026 European iGaming Awards, winner of the Real-Time Payments Innovation award at the 2025 Payments Awards, and named one of the CB Insights Top 100 Fintechs.
For more information, visit: yaspa.com
