Gambling Commission confirms phased financial risk assessments launch

The Gambling Commission today announced long-awaited plans to implement a phased rollout of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) for customers exhibiting problematic spending behaviours.

As part of the measure, players whose net deposits exceed £5,000 within a rolling 24-hour period will be flagged and credit checks will be triggered. The commission said only 0.5% of UK customers cross this threshold.

The rollout will begin with stage one, targeting the largest operators and customers with the most extreme spend patterns. 

For younger customers and other high-risk demographics, the threshold for stage one is set at £2,500 within any 24-hour period.

However, once fully operational, FRAs will be triggered if net deposits exceed £1,000 in 24 hours, or £3,000 within a rolling 90-day period. This is specific to players aged 25 and over.

For those under 25, FRAs will be triggered if net deposits exceed £750 in 24 hours or £2,000 within a rolling 90-day period.

This marks a change from the 2023 white paper’s originally proposed system which proposed a £2,000 loss over a period of 90 days.

Stage one of FRAs to be finalised followng industry consultation

The commission said it planned to finalise the stage one timetable after consulting with industry participants and stakeholders. Implementation groups will be formed over the summer to refine assessment criteria and develop accompanying guidance.

After significant pushback from the sector, with many raising concerns that the measure would cause friction throughout the player journey, the regulator once more stressed that checks would be “frictionless” and would not affect customers’ credit scores.

The FRA pilot, conducted between August 2025 and finalised earlier this year, reportedly showed that 97% of customers who exceeded designated spend thresholds could be assessed through CRA data. This surpassed the 80% estimate cited in the white paper.

During the pilot additional affordability checks were triggered when a player’s net monthly deposit hit £500. A second phase from February 2025 lowered the net deposit to a threshold of £150 or above. 

A grace period will be in place to ensure that during the early stages of FRA implementation, no enforcement action will be taken against operators that fail to act following an FRA outcome. 

Rationale and no enforcement action

Evidence presented by the Commission underscored that high-spending customers were disproportionately more likely to face financial hardship. These customers are reported to be between two and four times more likely to have a debt management plan, and between two and five times more likely to have a credit default in the previous year compared to the general population. 

It is estimated that less than 3% of all accounts will undergo assessment upon full implementation of the financial risk assessments. Of these, less than one in 1,000 are expected to require alternative verification methods, such as additional identity checks, or providing open banking information.

‘Deeply disappointed’

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) swiftly responded to the Commission’s announcement, insisting it was “deeply disappointed and frustrated” the measure would go ahead, “despite the significant concerns raised over the last 18 months by the BGC, operators, racing [industry], parliamentarians and customers”.

Grainne Hurst, the BGC’s chief executive, referred to delays with the pilot and expressed concerns that friction may still exist within the process.

“The pilot exposed inconsistencies in the information returned by credit reference agencies, with the same customer potentially receiving different outcomes depending on the provider. Customers risk being wrongly identified as financially vulnerable based on a system that remains unproven. That is not a sound basis for regulatory intervention.”

She added: “The Commission has yet to publish a full evaluation of the pilot, so neither the industry nor the public has seen the evidence needed to justify introducing these checks. These checks cannot be described as genuinely frictionless if they produce unreliable outcomes.”

Contentious checks 

The proposal for FRAs has attracted considerable attention since its inclusion in the 2023 white paper. 

Alongside previous frustrations from the BGC, a collection of cross-party MPs signed an open letter in May calling on Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to abandon the initiative entirely. With a specific focus on the horseracing industry, the letter expressed concern that the affordability checks would disrupt the established synergy between racing and betting at a time when the sport already faced increasing economic challenges.  

Speaking at iGB Live last week, executive director at the Gambling Commission Tim Miller said the regulator had both been criticised for rushing, as well as for taking too long on the policy.

“We’ve taken our time deliberately. Regulatory peers around the world are very keen to see what we do on this,” Miller said.

Positive reactions 

Sarah Gardner, acting chief executive of the Gambling Commission, characterised the new approach to FRAs as cautious yet confident.

“We are confident that our approach, using high-quality data, will enable support for high-spending customers in financial difficulties, while reducing friction for customers who are not in financial difficulties by removing the need for unnecessary and unpopular document checks to understand financial risk.”

Meanwhile, Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross said of the measure: “I welcome the Gambling Commission’s decision to implement financial risk assessments in a careful, phased way. Attention must now turn to successful implementation.”