UK Online Gamblers Face Financial Risk Checks Above £1,000 Daily Spend

Gamblers who spend more than £1,000 online in any 24-hour period or more than £3,000 over a rolling 90-day period will undergo financial risk assessments, the Gambling Commission announced. Under-25s will face lower thresholds than older customers. The checks will rely on data from credit reference agencies.

The commission said the assessments are not affordability checks. Operators will use the information to spot customers at risk of financial harm. High-spending gamblers were two to four times more likely to hold a debt management plan and two to five times more likely to have recorded a default in the prior 12 months than the wider population, according to commission data.

Checks will begin with over-25s spending more than £5,000 in a rolling 24-hour period, a threshold that will affect less than 0.5 percent of customers. The commission has not set an implementation date and will introduce the rules in stages after summer consultations with companies and stakeholders. The threshold will later drop to the £1,000 level.

A 2023 white paper on gambling had recommended enhanced checks for customers with very high losses. Acting chief executive Sarah Gardner said the vast majority of customers would "never, ever" require an assessment. She added that the process would be frictionless and document-free with no impact on credit scores.

Gardner noted stakeholder concerns that tighter rules could shift some problem gamblers to unregulated markets.