Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the Gambling Commission, has provided a clear explanation of the proposed financial checks that may be introduced as part of the UK Government’s Gambling Act Review White Paper.
The consultations for these financial checks began in August and will continue for an additional six weeks until October.
If a player’s spending is deemed moderate, with a loss of £125 ($156) within a 30-day period, a light touch financial vulnerability check will be conducted using publicly available data.
However, if a player loses £1,000 in 24 hours or £2,000 in 90 days, a full financial risk assessment will be carried out.
These checks will not impact the user’s credit score, and if no risk is identified, the customer can continue using the gambling operator as usual.
Approximately 20 percent of accounts will undergo light touch financial checks, while three percent will undergo a financial risk assessment conducted by a credit reference agency.
Rhodes emphasized in a recent blog post that these checks will only apply to users of online gambling sites and will not be implemented in retail betting shops or racetracks.
Many people have concerns about the security of their banking information with these checks. However, Rhodes clarified that gambling companies will not have direct access to a user’s bank details or records.
There have also been questions about losing periods, slots, and what triggers a check. In the blog post, Rhodes explained that the proposed thresholds for checks represent unusually high levels of loss, even among those with extensive gambling histories.
Furthermore, if a check is triggered, the operator will consider the results in conjunction with the customer’s gambling history to determine appropriate action. Any winnings outside the preceding period will also be taken into account.
This announcement follows a recent post by Rhodes, where the Gambling Commission addressed the misuse of statistics by the media in an open letter.