UK Gambling Commission sets out risk checks terms

UKGC vulnerability and financial risk checks confirmation, BGC voluntary code, risk checks consumer survey +More

May 01, 2024

The UK Gambling Commission issues the timetable for the introduction of key vulnerability checks and the launch of a six-month pilot programme.
The Betting and Gaming Council also launches a new interim operator voluntary code on financial risk checks.
Commission survey shows broad support for new risk checks among the public.
The Commission also set out proposals covering the intensity of online games, improved customer choices regarding marketing and the tightening up of age-verification checks in retail.

Commison’s risk check terms

Listen up: The UK Gambling Commission was keen to stress it has listened to consumers as it laid out its response to the government’s Gambling Act Review and set the ball rolling on the introduction of financial risk checks.

Light touch is the new frictionless: The Commission confirmed the “light touch” vulnerability checks would take place on customers with a net deposit of more than £150 a month on gambling.
The Commission added that to ease introduction these checks will initially come into force at £500 a month from 30 August 2024 before reducing to £150 a month from 28 February 2025.
It added that the checks will focus “solely on publicly available data and, following feedback through consultation, will not require gambling businesses to consider an individual’s personal details such as postcode or job title.”

Trial and error: On the financial risk checks, the Commission didn’t lay out the terms of the limits that would be used for the pilot study, but said that, through data collection, it would “also explore the exact financial thresholds the assessments would be conducted at.”

The assessments are not being rolled out in a live environment, it added, saying that neither the light touch checks nor the financial risk assessment pilot would affect consumer credit ratings.

We hear you: In laying out the new rules, Andrew Rhodes, CEO at the Commission, said it was “vital that the introduction of new rules is based on evidence and takes into account the views of consumers and other interested parties.”

On the financial risk checks pilot, he said the Commission had to “get the balance right” between the ill effects of problem gambling and consumer freedom.
He added that the pilot study was expected to take six months after which the Commission would decide upon the permanent rules.

Four steps: The Commission said the new rules are consistent with the proposals laid out by the government in the Gambling Act Review. They will be implemented in four stages with key dates including August and November this year and then January and February 2025.

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The BGC response

Raise the standard: To coincide with the UK Gambling Commission’s issuing of its response, the Betting and Gaming Council has announced a new voluntary code on customer checks, which the body said it hoped would raise standards while reducing the need for requests for private financial documents.

Developed in conjunction with the Commission and backed by the government, the code is designed as an interim measure while the pilot study is ongoing.
BGC members will interact with customers when they make net deposits of more than £5,000 in a rolling month and when they wish to make net deposits of £25,000 in any rolling 12-month period.
Under the code, only customers wishing to spend over £25,000 in any rolling 12-month period may have to provide financial documents to demonstrate they are not at financial risk.

Great leap forward: Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said the interim code on customer checks was a “major step forward”, while the Commission’s Rhodes said it would “help ensure a consistent and transparent approach for consumers across participating operators where customer spend is the trigger for action.”

“The thresholds in the code represent a set of minimum standards agreed by operators, including backstops where they will consider and engage with customers where necessary,” he added.
Frazer said the government had been “listening carefully” to the views of industry, horseracing, campaigners, charities and ordinary punters.
“We are committed to a balanced approach, which respects the personal freedom of the many millions of people who gamble without issue while protecting people from the potentially destructive impact of gambling addiction.”

Financial risk check survey

All those who say aye: Among the releases today from the Commission was a survey of public attitudes to the introduction of both the vulnerability and financial risk checks. It found that 78% of all respondents to the survey conducted by market research firm Yonder agreed the package of proposals were necessary to protect people from gambling harm.

The survey found that respondents who scored higher on the Problem Gambling Severity Index and reported more active online gambling accounts were less supportive of the package of proposals.

Feeling vulnerable: On the lower threshold financial vulnerability checks of £125 in 30 days, the survey showed a slim majority in favor at 56% and that 52% were in favor of the proposed 365-day limit of £500.

The survey also found that when presented with the full proposal and frictionless nature of the check “some felt it would be better as a blanket check across all customers,” though no percentage was given.

Risky behavior: On the financial risk checks proposals, there was a slim majority in favor with 51% feeling the thresholds of £1,000 in 24 hours and £2,000 in 90 days were the right amounts, but with 35% and 30% adjudging them to be too high, while 6% and 10% said the respective limits were too low.

More respondents, 74% were in favor of the lower limits for young adults.
64% of respondents were favorable towards the use of credit reference agency data.

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Other measures

Remote games design

Turbo-charged: The Commission also laid out its new rules for games design and, specifically, online slots, which will come into force in January next year. These include the banning of the following:

Features that speed up the time for a result to be shown or can give the illusion of control such as ‘turbo’ or ‘slam stops’.
Autoplay.
Audio or visual celebrations of returns less than or equal to stake.
Operator-led functionality that facilitates playing multiple simultaneous products such as roulette and blackjack tables.
Casino games spin speeds of less than 5 seconds, excluding peer-to-peer poker.

Direct marketing

Are you in or out? Also coming into force in January next year will be new rules around how gambling operators provide customers with options to opt-in to product types and the marketing channels that are used.

The Commission said the aim was to “empower customers” by giving them more control over the direct gambling marketing they wish to receive and ensure they do not receive marketing that they do not want.

Age verification in retail

Age of chance: The Commission is set to introduce new rules in August this year that will mean all gambling land-based licensees, including smaller licensees, must carry out age verification test purchasing.

It will also change the good practice code to say licensees should have procedures that require their staff to check the age of any customer who appears to be under 25 years of age, rather than under 21 years of age.

Calendar

May 6: Gaming in Spain
May 7: SBC Summit North America Player Protection Symposium
May 28-30: IAGA, Washington DC
June 6: Gaming in Holland

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