UK Mixed reception as Gambling Commission unveils affordability pilot
East Coast Racing
SLIPPERGOLDEN
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The BHA has insisted how "vital" it is that the majority of punters who bet safely are not impacted by affordability checks after the Gambling Commission issued further details of its plans to a mixed reception on Wednesday.
A six-month pilot of enhanced affordability checks will be launched at the end of August, with the commission claiming they will not be formally introduced until they are frictionless for the "vast majority" of customers who are checked.
The news comes as the gambling industry regulator set out its long-awaited response to the consultation it ran on affordability checks, or financial risk checks as they have been termed, last year.
It also follows the announcement of a new interim gambling industry code developed by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and Gambling Commission, which is aimed at reducing the number of punters being asked for personal financial documents to prove they can afford their level of betting under the current ad hoc system of checks, which will run until a new frictionless regime is brought in.
Checks are to be introduced in two stages. Initial proposals in the government's white paper had set a first tier of financial vulnerability checks at £125 net loss within a 30-day period or £500 within a year.
However, in the plans set out by the commission, that will change to those checks happening for customers with a net deposit of more than £150 a month on gambling, focusing on publicly available data. The checks will initially come into force at £500 a month from August 30 before reducing to £150 a month from February 28 next year.