In an effort to identify and assist high-spending remote gambling customers playing at online casinos who may be facing financial difficulties, the Gambling Commission has announced a new pilot programme. 

Gambling Commission, headquartered in Birmingham, aims for this initiative to explore the implementation of financial risk assessments (FIA’s), a response to increasing concerns about affordability and customer protections in the sector.  

Gambling Commission Taking Cautious Approach  

The pilot follows years of consultation and evidence gathering that began with an open call on the topic of 'affordability.' Subsequently, the Government's Gambling Act Review shifted focus to a more targeted understanding of financial risk. Building on these findings, the Commission has outlined a cautious approach to help identify customers potentially at risk of gambling-related harm due to financial troubles. 

Commenting on her blog, the Gambling Commission’s Director of Major Policy Projects and Evaluation, Helen Rhodes, said, “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."

"We are proceeding cautiously to test whether and how financial risk assessments could be introduced in a way that supports high-spending customers in financial difficulties but also supports a frictionless customer journey for the vast majority of customers.” added Rhodes.

Pilot Scheduled to Last up to Seven Months

Scheduled to last between six and seven months, the pilot will involve collaboration with the largest remote gambling operators and credit reference agencies. 

Importantly, this trial is not a live test, meaning no actual consumers will be impacted, and it will not affect credit ratings. Instead, the program will utilize real data to simulate how financial risk assessments might function. 

The pilot will evaluate whether it can successfully identify high-spending customers experiencing significant financial difficulties, such as high debts or multiple missed payments. 

Operators will receive limited, anonymised information to determine the severity of financial issues, allowing them to provide tailored support ranging from marketing reductions to suggesting deposit limits or, in extreme cases, terminating the customer relationship.  

Several Key Performance Indicators at the Heart of the Pilot 

At the heart of the pilot are several key performance indicators. They are: 

• Frictionless Assessment (Part 1): The pilot aims to determine what percentage of high-spending accounts can effectively undergo a financial risk assessment from credit reference agencies. The target is that around 80 percent of accounts checked could do so seamlessly, aligning with estimates from the 2023 Gambling Act Review. 
• Frictionless Assessment (Part 2): The program will evaluate the speed at which credit reference agencies can process and return assessments, specifically whether they can deliver results—including Red, Amber, Green (RAG) ratings—within minutes. 
• Data Relevance and Accuracy: The pilot will analyse the usefulness of credit reference data in understanding an individual's overall financial risk. It will explore whether additional data sources, such as Current Account Turnover (CATO) data, can enhance or adversely affect the accuracy of financial risk assessments. 
• Implementation Challenges: The pilot will seek to address how data can be effectively presented to operators to facilitate an understanding of financial risk and how these assessments can be integrated into customer interaction processes. 

Findings Will Inform How FIA’s Rolled out in Future

As findings from the pilot emerge, the Gambling Commission will weigh them against broader data, evidence, and public consultation responses to determine if and how frictionless financial risk assessments might be rolled out in the future. 

If adopted, the Commission has committed to ongoing evaluations to ensure the policy achieves the intended protections for consumers.  

This initiative represents a proactive step towards a more responsible gambling environment, ultimately aimed at minimising harm for vulnerable customers while maintaining a seamless experience for the vast majority of users.