UK Gambling Commission reported that 95% of financial risk assessments in its affordability checks pilot deemed frictionless. The majority of these assessments considered successful.
Last August, the Gambling Commission launched the first phase of its financial risk checks pilot, following one of the recommendations from the United Kingdom’s gambling review white paper. The measure triggers additional checks for players whose net monthly deposit hits £500. It met resistance when it was first proposed in May.
Operators could trigger checks with credit reference agencies once they hit the deposit limit. A second phase would then begin in February of this year. This will lower the net deposit to a threshold of £150. A few of the top-tier operators in the United Kingdom have implemented the pilot.
In 2023, public feedback to a consultation on the policy raised concerns about it creating additional friction for players. In response to proposals for the sharing of player data across operators, it also raised privacy concerns.
Operators also flagged the cost impact that additional checks would have on them.
On February 10, the Gambling Commission published an update on the pilot. Helen Rhodes, the director of major policy projects and evaluation, said that an estimated 95% of the 530,000 checks had undergone frictionless assessments by credit reference agencies.
Operators deemed roughly 5% of the assessments as unmatched or invalid due to incorrect data.
Data formatting issues accounted for less than 1% of assessments, where operators provided invalid dates or duplications.
Rhodes wrote that the credit reference agency was unable to identify the customer in just over 4% of the assessments, leaving no information available.
