UK Gambling Commission Pilots Online Gambling Financial Risk Assessments

On 30 August, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) launched a pilot programme to test online gambling financial risk assessments.

The pilot programme will last approximately six months and focus on implementing affordability checks to encourage increased customer protection and reduce monthly deposit spending.

Initially, the pilot will target those with monthly deposits exceeding £500, with an overall aim to reduce this to £150 per month by February next year.

What the UK Gambling Commission says

The UK Gambling Commission states on its website: 'These checks will identify vulnerability such as where a customer is subject to bankruptcy orders or has a history of unpaid debts. They will focus solely on publicly available data and, following feedback through the consultation, will not require gambling businesses to consider an individual’s personal details such as postcode or job title.

'To ease the introduction of these checks they will initially come into force at a higher threshold for a short period of time, before reverting to a lower threshold later in the year to smooth implementation for consumers.'

Not a 'live' test

At the end of the pilot programme, it may become mandatory for online operators to include these credit checks, but the UK Gambling Commission states that the current programme does not include 'live' tests and will not impact consumers.

They say: 'We will run a pilot of how assessments would work using real data all the way through the process, but not take action on it. During a pilot and if introduced, financial risk assessments would not affect a consumer’s credit rating.'

A phased approach

The pilot programme will be carried out in phases and begins with Frictionless Part-1, which will focus on the affordability checks and their efficiency. The UK Gambling Commission states: 'If the assessment were to be applied to the highest-spending accounts, what proportion of these accounts could get a financial risk assessment from credit reference agencies?'

Frictionless Part-2 is the second phase and plans to assess credit reference agencies and the speed and efficiency of processing the assessments and then returning results.

The final phase will focus on the technical implementation of the affordability checks. This will evaluate how data should be presented to gambling operators.

Potential outcomes

The UK Gambling Commission has confirmed that the pilot data and outcomes will be reviewed alongside other data and feedback, and the programme will involve collaboration between online gambling operators and credit agencies.

If the pilot programme succeeds, it could result in compulsory financial risk assessments across the gambling industry.

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