Gambling Commission Provides Update on Financial Risk Assesment Pilot Scheme
Financial risk assessments of online gamblers are in the spotlight as a result of a new pilot scheme by the Gambling Commission in the UK.
An update on the Gambling Commission’s pilot of financial risk assessments has been provided. © Dmitriy, Pixabay
The Latest Update from the Gambling Commission in August 2024
An update on the status of a financial risk assessments pilot scheme has been provided by UK regulatory body, the Gambling Commission.
The lengthy pilot, which will last around six months, was first announced earlier in the year and was set to start on August 30. The Gambling Commission’s director of major policy projects and evaluation has now provided more detail on the pilot in a blog post.
Helen Rhodes explained problems around identifying and supporting customers who are spending large amounts of money gambling online has long been a priority for the organisation.
“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,” she wrote.
“But 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.”
How Does the Gambling Commission Pilot Programme Work?
No online betting users in the UK will be affected by the pilot programme as it is not “live”.
Real data will be used in the assessment carried out by the Gambling Commission, but no action will be taken on it at this stage.
Rhodes pointed out in her blog post that one of the main aims of the pilot is to see whether or not it is possible to identify high-spending customers who could be in financial difficulty.
She said: “We are testing how operators can be given limited information to understand how severe these financial difficulties might be, in order to take action to support the customer.”
The Gambling Commission revealed at least one of the success criteria will be tested at each stage of the pilot process.
Transparency and Details Criticised
Not everyone has welcomed the launch of the Gambling Commission’s new pilot scheme.
A spokesperson for the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) said it was encouraging to be informed the pilot will not be a live test, with no customers directly affected.
However, the BHA representative said in an interview that the Gambling Commission’s update lacks detail.
“It is also essential that the pilot is transparent and answers the questions posed by the Gambling Commission in order for the public to have confidence that financial risk assessments can be fully frictionless,” the spokesperson told the Racing Post. “It is imperative that the commission shares publicly the full results of the pilot on its conclusion next spring and that it works closely with the DCMS, betting operators, bettors and wider stakeholders on evaluating the results before any further decisions are made on financial risk assessments.”
More news on how the pilot scheme is progressing is expected to be provided by the Gambling Commission in the coming weeks and months.
