Consultation by the Gambling Commission: A Roadmap for Affordability Checks

The response highlights changes made from the proposals aired in the consultation across several key areas. Notably, there have been tweaks to deposit limits and the definition of spend. Additionally, the period over which the pilot scheme runs has been made more elastic, raising the prospect of a delayed decision on their eventual implementation.

For six months from a specified date, the trigger for checks will be set at £500 of net deposits per 30-day rolling period, with withdrawals from a betting account also being taken into account. This is a change from the white paper proposals unveiled last April. The cumulative £500 threshold within a 12-month period has been scrapped.

From February 28, 2025, the checks will be triggered at £150 per 30-day period, a slight increase from the original proposal of £125. The Gambling Commission has reiterated that details such as a customer’s postcode and employment will not be considered when firms make an assessment of whether there is a risk of harm. Instead, they will consider bankruptcies, Individual Voluntary Arrangements, and Debt Relief Orders.

The thresholds that have survived after the consultation are £2,000 spend per 90-day rolling period and £1,000 within 24 hours for the purposes of the pilot. These thresholds will be reviewed as part of the pilot process. During the pilot, three credit reference agencies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – will model a betting customer’s risk profile using all the information they hold on them, including credit performance data and aggregated current account turnover data.

They will provide betting operators with a credit score or index, but they will not disclose any data which the firms do not already hold, including Cato or salary. The potential for the timeline of the pilot to extend deep into the spring suggests that a final decision will not be made “at least until 2025.” The concerns raised by respondents to the consultation, such as thresholds and which data should be included in affordability checks, will remain “under consideration” ahead of the final response.