The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published an update on its approach to the financial risk assessment (affordability checks) program pilot, promising that it will not cause trouble for British players.
The UKGC Wants to Protect Risky High Spenders from Harm
The British regulator highlighted its continued effort to devise a measure that will protect struggling high-spending online players without affecting those who play responsibly.
We want to tackle cases where customers have been able to gamble large amounts without any checks or support where it was later identified that this led to significant harm.
UKGC statement
However, the regulator wants to proceed cautiously, aware of the controversial nature of its planned affordability checks. Its goal is to implement a system that supports a “frictionless customer journey for the vast majority of customers.”
In May, the UKGC announced that it will conduct a pilot of its affordability checks with the largest operators and credit reference agencies.
The Program Is Not a Live Test
The UKGC explained that the pilot program is not a “live test” and therefore will not affect players. Instead, the UKGC will leverage real data to see how these assessments would work in practice. However, the regulator will not take action on its findings during the pilot program.
Additionally, the affordability checks system will not affect customers’ credit rating, the British gambling authority promised.
The pilot will last for roughly half a year, during which time the largest online operators will work through three stages, first looking at historical customer data and then considering current data. The UKGC’s goal is to understand whether high-spending customers who are struggling financially can be identified through such data and patterns.
This would allow the UKGC to see whether it is able to consistently identify risky players and understand the severity of the problems they face. Conversely, where no difficulties are identified, the operator will not take any action.
The UKGC Will Evaluate a Number of Criteria
At each stage of the pilot, the UKGC will test at least one of the success criteria. The criteria in question include:
Frictionless part 1 – The UKGC would explore how many players could get a financial risk assessment from credit reference agencies if the checks were to be applied to the highest spending accounts. The UKGC also wants to see whether this amount aligns with the estimates of the 2023 Gambling Act Review White Paper, which says that roughly 80% of accounts that undergo a check would be able to do so.
Frictionless part 2 – The UKGC would also explore how quickly credit reference agencies could process an assessment and return a score of red, amber or green to gambling operators. The regulator wants to see if assessment within minutes is possible.
Data relevance and accuracy – The British regulator wants to see whether reference data contributes to truly understanding the risks a gambler faces. Additionally, the UKGC will see how this data compares to other information that operators already have access to. The regulator will also see if Current Account Turnover (CATO) data adds additional insights and if so, under what circumstances.
Implementation Issues – The UKGC wants to see how data can be presented to operators to help understand the financial vulnerabilities of their customers, as well as how operators could build risk assessments into their existing customer interaction processes.
The pilot, the UKGC concluded, will help the regulator’s team to decide whether to proceed with the implementation of the financial risk assessments and, if so, how. In any case, the regulator promised that affordability checks, if introduced, would be as frictionless as possible.
