U.K. online gamblers betting more than £1,000 in a 24-hour period, or £3,000 in a 90-day period, will need to undergo financial risk assessments.
Key Takeaways
- The implementation of the new checks are due to start this summer.
- Initially, the assessments will start with gamblers wagering over £5,000 in a 24-hour period.
- Both the Betting and Gaming Council and the British Horseracing Authority are opposed to the proposed assessments.
According to the BBC, online gamblers in the United Kingdom will be subject to additional risk checks. The Gambling Commission (GC) will be rolling out new financial risk assessments (FRA) sometime this summer.
The regulator said it will initially start the checks on gamblers wagering more than £5,000 in a 24-hour period, affecting just 0.5% of customers. Prior to the rollout, the Commission will be meeting with industry leaders and other stakeholders.
Ultimately, the gamblers wagering £1,000 in a 24-hour period, or £3,000 in a 90-day period, will be subjected to the checks. The limits will be lower for those under 25-years-old. A GC pilot program found that the limits would affect roughly 3% of U.K. online accounts.
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Assessing the risks
While the vast majority of accounts will never be subject to an assessment, the total number of bettors could be substantial. For instance, the GC estimates that there are about 10 million people participating in U.K. online sports betting.
The GC made it clear that these would not be “affordability checks.” Instead, the financial risk assessments are an attempt to identify high-spending gamblers, who statistically have greater risk of debt management issues and/or default. The assessments follow the recommendations made in the 2023 U.K. white paper on gambling, High Stakes: Gambling Reform in the Digital Age.
The assessments would be provided by credit reference agencies. Acting GC Chief Executive Sarah Gardner said this “will enable support for high-spending customers in financial difficulties, while reducing friction for customers who are not."
The Betting and Gambling Council, which represents the gambling industry, said it was “disappointed and frustrated.”
"The central issues around reliability, consumer impact and the practical operation of these checks remain unresolved," said Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive of the Betting and Gambling Council.
Likewise, the British Horseracing Authority is concerned that it could negatively impact the horseracing industry.
“We are hugely disappointed that the Gambling Commission will implement affordability checks which will have severe financial implications for British racing and the U.K. economy and subject racing bettors to unwarranted levels of intrusion,” the British Horseracing Authority's CEO, Brant Dunshea, said in statement issued Monday.
