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Head of Product — Payments, Risk & Fraud

Anthony Cugnetto

I build payment systems that scale. Currently leading product for payments, risk, and fraud at Dabble Sports, where I’ve driven a 10%+ uplift in acceptance rates and orchestrated partnerships with industry leaders across global markets.

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Anthony Cugnetto
10%+ Acceptance Rate Uplift
90%+ Auth Rates Achieved
3 Global Markets

About

I’m a product leader specialising in payments, risk, and fraud within the sports betting and gaming industry. With over a decade of experience across Australia’s leading wagering platforms, I focus on building payment infrastructure that drives revenue, reduces fraud, and scales globally.

My approach combines deep technical understanding of payment systems with a strategic product mindset. I’ve led teams across the full payments lifecycle — from PSP selection and orchestration to fraud prevention, KYC, and compliance — while maintaining a relentless focus on customer experience and acceptance rate optimisation.

At Dabble Sports, I’ve built and managed a payments stack spanning multiple processors, card networks, and digital wallets across Australia, the U.S., and upcoming markets like the UK — partnering with the likes of Checkout.com, Primer, GeoComply, and Riskified to deliver best-in-class performance.

Core Focus Areas

  • Payment Orchestration & PSP Strategy
  • Acceptance Rate Optimisation
  • Fraud Prevention & Risk Management
  • KYC & Identity Verification
  • Network Tokenisation
  • Digital Wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay)
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Global Market Expansion

Education & Certifications

  • Bachelor of Information Technology
    Swinburne University of Technology
  • Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)

Experience

Head of Product — Payments, Risk & Fraud

Current

Dabble Sports

Leading product strategy for payments, risk, and fraud across Dabble’s global operations spanning Australia, the U.S., and upcoming UK market. Driving acceptance rate optimisation, payment orchestration, fraud prevention, and KYC initiatives. Managing partnerships with Checkout.com, Primer, GeoComply, Riskified, and others to build a best-in-class payments stack.

Payments Fraud Risk KYC Global Expansion

Head of Product

Previously

Carousel Group

Led the overall Product and UAT team function, focusing on sports, casino, payments, and marketing initiatives. Oversaw product strategy and delivery across the company’s gaming portfolio.

Sports Casino Payments Marketing

Senior Product Manager

Previously

BetEasy

Managed Acquisition, Retention, and Payments teams. Oversaw registration, data and customer migrations, payment providers, and ID verification services. Maintained the internal promotions application and drove cross-functional product initiatives.

Acquisition Retention Payments ID Verification

Business Analyst

Earlier Career

North Melbourne Football Club

Analysed customer data and provided recommendations for targeted marketing strategies. An early foundation in data-driven decision making that shaped a product career.

Data Analysis Marketing Strategy

Case Studies

A selection of published partnerships and results from my work leading payments at Dabble Sports.

Checkout.com 2024–2025

10% higher acceptance rate with Network Tokens and intelligent processing

10.2% Acceptance uplift (AU & US)
11.9% Global uplift with Network Tokens

Partnered with Checkout.com to overhaul Dabble’s payment processing across Australia and the U.S. By adopting Network Tokens, expanding card network coverage (including Discover for U.S. gamers), and integrating digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay), we achieved a 10.2% acceptance rate uplift in just one year. The partnership went beyond technology — we co-created solutions and navigated regulatory mandates together.

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Primer 2023

Payment orchestration delivering 90%+ auth rates and unified fraud prevention

90%+ Authorisation rates
Unified 3DS Fraud prevention approach

Partnered with Primer to build a unified payments orchestration layer, expanding payment options to include Apple Pay and Google Pay while implementing a multi-processor strategy. Achieved 90%+ authorisation rates with enhanced fraud prevention through a unified 3DS approach — at a pivotal moment as Australia moved to prohibit credit card gambling.

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GeoComply 2026

Enhanced KYC with device and location intelligence for fraud visibility

90%+ KYC pass rates
Enhanced Identity theft detection

Introduced GeoComply’s digital identity platform to bring precise device and location intelligence into Dabble’s KYC process. The integration delivers KYC pass rates above 90% while providing improved visibility into identity theft and fraud threats through advanced geolocation, device fingerprinting, and spoofing detection.

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Riskified 2024–2025

Chargeback guarantee and ML-powered fraud decisioning for US market expansion

100% Dispute liability transferred
ML-Powered Fraud decisioning

When Dabble launched in the US, rules-based fraud systems from Australia proved ineffective against region-specific fraud patterns and limited 3DS support. Soaring chargebacks threatened card network penalties, while strict blocking rules hurt legitimate customers. Riskified’s chargeback guarantee transferred full dispute liability, their ML models adapted to fantasy sports transaction patterns, and Dabble could open its payment funnel — evaluating more transactions rather than blocking legitimate bettors.

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Get in Touch

Interested in discussing payments strategy, product leadership, or potential opportunities? I’d love to connect.

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