Online gamblers betting more than £1,000 to face new checks
Gamblers who spend more than £1,000 online in a 24-hour window must be subject to a financial risk assessment, the industry regulator has announced.
The Gambling Commission said it would also apply to anyone spending more than £3,000 in a 90-day period. Those under 25 will have lower thresholds.
The assessments will be based on data held by credit reference agencies, but the commission insisted these were not a “reciprocity check”.
Gambling companies said they were unhappy with the changes, which they said would push customers into the black market.
The commission did not set a timeline for the changes, saying they would be implemented “in a very careful and phased manner.”
He said there was evidence that some high-spending customers were experiencing financial difficulties but were not detected or supported by bookmakers.
The checks will start with people over 25 who gambled more than £5,000 in a 24-hour period. They will initially apply only to the largest gambling companies.
The first phase will affect less than 0.5% of customers and will be rolled out this summer following engagement from industry and other stakeholders, the watchdog said.
The threshold will eventually be reduced to £1,000 within 24 hours and £750 for under 25s.
A 2023 white paper on gambling recommended better controls for customers who experience very high losses.
The commission on Tuesday said high-spending gamblers were two to four times more likely to have a debt management plan than consumers in the broader population and two to five times more likely to have defaulted in the previous 12 months.
Sarah Gardner, acting chief executive of the Gambling Commission, said the vast majority of customers would never need an assessment.
Those who do this will have a hassle-free, document-free assessment provided by credit reference agencies that will have no impact on their credit score.
He said the commission believed this approach would “provide support to high-spending customers who are experiencing financial difficulties, while reducing friction for customers who are not in financial distress.”
The commission insisted that assessments were not the same as affordability checks; Gardner said it was “very unpopular” among gamblers.
He added that stakeholders have expressed concerns that more regulation could push problem gamblers into the black market.
Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross said the reviews must work for “consumers, gambling operators and the wider ecosystem”.
The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents betting companies, said it was “disappointed and disappointed” by the changes.
BT managing director Grainne Hurst said: “The fundamental issues around reliability, consumer impact and the practical operation of these controls are still unresolved.”
He said the Gambling Commission did not provide enough “accurate, reliable or consistent” data to support the checks.
“We support evidence-based, proportionate regulation that protects vulnerable people while allowing the 22.5 million adults who bet in the UK every month to do so safely.
“But until the Commission demonstrates that these checks are accurate, consistent and genuinely trouble-free, our key concerns remain, including the risk of diverting customers into the growing illicit gambling market.”
