UK Gambling Regulator Targets High-Spending Customers with Risk Checks

LONDON: The UK Gambling Commission will introduce Financial Risk Assessments in stages for high-spending gambling customers.

The policy is designed to identify customers in financial difficulty while reducing reliance on document checks that have drawn consumer criticism.

The Gambling Commission announcement said the assessments will be used to help operators identify customers showing signs of significant financial risk. The regulator said some high-spending customers are currently not being identified or supported by gambling businesses.

First Stage Targets Very High Spending

The first stage will apply to the largest operators and will focus on customers with unusually high net deposits over a short period. For consumers aged 25 and over, the first-stage threshold will be more than £5,000 net deposited in a rolling 24-hour period.

For high-risk groups such as consumers under 25, the first-stage threshold will be more than £2,500 net deposited in a rolling 24-hour period. The Commission said the £5,000 threshold is a very unusual spending pattern that fewer than 0.5% of customers exceed.

Interim thresholds have not yet been set. The regulator said those stages will be decided after further engagement with implementation groups, gambling businesses, credit reference agencies and other stakeholders.

Once the system is fully implemented, customers aged 25 and over will be assessed if net deposits exceed £1,000 in a rolling 24-hour period or £3,000 over a rolling 90-day period. For customers under 25, the final thresholds will be £750 in 24 hours or £2,000 over 90 days.

Checks Designed to Be Frictionless

The Commission said the assessments will be carried out by credit reference agencies and will not affect a customer’s credit score. The regulator also said the process is intended to be document-free for most customers.

The pilot found that 97% of customers above the threshold levels could be assessed frictionlessly for financial difficulties. The Commission said fewer than 3% of accounts would have an assessment, and fewer than one in 1,000 accounts would be unable to receive one.

For those accounts, operators will have to verify identity properly and may assess financial risk through other means. That could include open banking or document requests where needed.

The policy sits within a wider responsible gambling framework aimed at identifying harm earlier. The Commission said high-spending gambling customers are between two and four times more likely to have a debt management plan and between two and five times more likely to have had a default in the previous 12 months than consumers in the wider population.

Early Rollout Will Limit Enforcement

The Commission said operators should use the assessments alongside other information they hold about a customer. Possible actions could include reducing marketing to vulnerable customers, encouraging deposit limits or taking further action where needed.

During the early stages of implementation, the Commission said it would not take enforcement action solely over a failure to act following a Financial Risk Assessment. However, operators will still be subject to all other existing license requirements.

Acting Chief Executive Sarah Gardner said the staged approach followed consultation, stakeholder engagement and pilot testing. She said the system should support high-spending customers in financial difficulty while reducing unnecessary document checks for customers who are not in difficulty.

Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross said the phased approach must protect customers in financial difficulty without creating unnecessary burdens for operators or consumers.

The Commission will confirm the stage one timetable after further engagement through implementation groups being established over the summer. The staged rollout means the highest-spending customers will be assessed first, while the final lower thresholds will come later.

RELATED TOPICS: Responsible Gambling