UK Gambling Commission Defends ‘Frictionless’ Affordability Checks

• UKGC says proposed financial risk assessments would affect fewer than 3% of accounts
• Regulator insists new gambling checks are largely “frictionless” for customers
• Horse racing industry warns reforms could damage betting revenues further

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) says that the financial risk assessments (FRAs) proposed as part of the country’s sweeping gambling reforms would be largely frictionless and affect fewer than 3% of active gambling accounts.

FRA is the name preferred by the regulator for what used to be called “affordability checks” – financial assessments on customers who reach a certain threshold of net deposits in a single month.

Critics argue such checks are intrusive and that people shouldn’t have to justify their spending habits when pursuing a legal leisure activity. There are also concerns that they might drive gamblers to the black market.

The horse racing industry has been especially vocal because the sport receives £350 million a year from the regulated gambling industry through sponsorship, media rights, and betting levy payments.

The industry says that revenues from betting have lately fallen by 15% to 20%, which it claims is a direct consequence of nonmandatory trials of checks currently underway.

‘Ill-Informed Commentary’

Speaking at the Clarion Payment Providers Summit on Wednesday, UKGC Director of Policy Ian Angus said that much of the recent commentary on FRA’s was “ill-informed or inaccurate.”

He said the pilot data showed that fewer than 3% of active customer accounts would trigger any operator intervention under the proposed financial risk assessment regime.

Of those accounts, 97% would undergo a “frictionless” assessment process — significantly higher than the 80% estimate set out in the government’s 2023 Gambling White Paper.

Angus added that only around 0.1 per cent of active accounts, or roughly one in 1,000, would be unable to complete an assessment frictionlessly.

Don’t Call Them Affordability Checks

“FRAs are not affordability checks by another name,” he said, referring to a previous, now-abandoned proposal that would have required customers to provide operators with bank statements.

Under the FRA model, an automated data check would run silently in background, and only exceptional or high-risk cases would demand intervention.

The checks we have been piloting will not even attempt to make an assessment of what each customer can afford to gamble, nor do the proposed thresholds for an assessment limit or cap customer spend,” he added. “FRAs were identified in the 2023 White Paper as the best way to bring a frictionless and consistent method for gambling firms to check whether a consumer is in financial difficulties.”

The future of financial risk assessments is still unclear. The regulator is still reviewing pilot data and consulting with industry stakeholders before making a final recommendation on implementation.