After almost a year of radio silence, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has provided an update on its financial risk assessment pilot study.
The latest communication comes as the dissenting voices over the implementation of the checks are continuing to grow amid calls for greater scrutiny of the pilot study.
Financial risk assessments were a pivotal recommendation made by the 2023 Gambling White Paper, and were intended to be a frictionless process that helped to identify potentially problematic behaviour.
However, opponents have expressed concerns that the intrusion caused by the checks will push players to the black market and harm the health of the regulated sector.
In its latest update, the first since May 2025, the UKGC attempted to quell the simmering outrage, describing a lot of the recent commentary as ‘ill-informed or inaccurate’.
A statement from the regulator read: “Some coverage has suggested that consumers are currently being driven to use illegal operators as a result of financial risk assessments. This is despite the fact that the assessments are not live and not a single consumer has had any action taken based on one – even during the pilot.
“Operators may have asked customers for documents or carried out other checks, but those were not financial risk assessments. Such checks could be for a range of reasons, such as anti-money-laundering, commercial reasons or where there were safer gambling concerns from the gambling business.”
The UKGC also hit back at claims that it wants to introduce spending limits on customer spend, and reiterated that thresholds are simply being used to trigger a check, and the customer can continue to gamble while this takes place.
Addressing concerns
Concerns raised by opponents have focused on the potential intrusion on consumers, leading them to shift their custom to the black market, where they can’t be targeted by the checks.
A YouGov poll commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council found that 65% of bettors would be unwilling to hand over personal documents like bank statements as part of financial checks.
However, the UKGC emphasised that there would be no need for operators to require documents from customers following an assessment, and it would support operators on how to avoid ‘choosing to build in unnecessary friction for consumers’.
The body also reiterated previously shared data from its study that suggests operators would be unable to conduct an assessment in a frictionless way for 1 in 1000 customers on average.
Financial checks are undertaken by credit agencies, and the UKGC acknowledged reports from the industry that different agencies have yielded different results from the same customer.
The UKGC said: “We are pleased that the pilot has given us useful information about data difference between credit reference agencies. This information can help inform comparisons to the consistency of the data and processes that operators currently use, and practical steps that can be considered if the decision is to proceed to implementation.”
Keeping players in the regulated market
The underlying message of the UKGC’s statement centred on the purpose of the Financial Risk Assessments and reiterated that, beyond the check taking place, the goal is to work with a customer to ensure they can play sustainably in the regulated sector.
“Forms of support for customers will be most effective if they support customers to gamble sustainably rather than simply move to the land-based, bricks and mortar market, between operators or to the illegal market,” the regulator said.
“Operators have pointed out that the action they might take to support a customer when financial vulnerability is identified can be seen as friction in the journey. But we cannot forget that interaction or support for a customer who is found to be in financial difficulties is what the policy is intended to deliver.”
The UKGC noted that customers in the pilot cohort were between twice and four times more likely to have a debt management plan and between twice and five times more likely to have a default in the last 12 months compared to the general population.
The findings of the pilot study will now be presented to the Gambling Commission Board to consider what the next steps are, however, the UKGC provided no timeframe as to when this will happen.
“If the decision is made to introduce these assessments, we will work closely with the industry and credit reference agencies on the details of a sensible implementation plan,” the regulator concluded.
“We are mindful of the risk of over-implementation or overly quick implementation of regulatory requirements, which could lead to unnecessary friction for consumers.”
