UKGC States Financial Risk Checks Are Not Affordability Checks

(AsiaGameHub) –   The UK Gambling Commission has moved to ease concerns surrounding financial risk checks, stating that the proposed procedure will not require bettors to submit bank statements or other additional financial paperwork.

---

Good to Know

• The UKGC confirms financial risk checks will not evaluate how much each customer is able to spend on gambling.
• Trial data indicates 97% of checks can be completed with no interruptions for users.
• Just 0.1% of active accounts required extra support during the pilot.

---

Miller Seeks to Establish a Clear Distinction

Tim Miller, Executive Director at the UKGC, used the Ethical Gambling Forum held in London to draw a line between financial risk assessments and the long-running debate over affordability checks. He stated:

“The checks we have been trialing will not even attempt to evaluate how much each individual customer can afford to spend on gambling”.

Miller also noted the Commission wants to introduce guidance that prevents operators from requesting bank statements or similar documents after a risk check is completed. He described such requests as serving no “legitimate regulatory purpose”.

This point directly addresses one of the most prominent complaints from the gambling sector. Betting and Gaming Council CEO Grainne Hurst had previously stated:

“Forcing punters to submit bank statements is not ‘frictionless’ – it is intrusive, and will push customers towards the illegal market, where no consumer safeguards exist at all.”

A YouGov survey commissioned by the BGC found 65% of UK bettors would refuse to share personal financial documents to continue placing bets.

The pilot launched in August 2024, applying to users with £500 in net monthly deposits, before the threshold was lowered to £150 in February 2025. Tier one operators took part in the scheme, with credit reference agencies brought in to help flag signs of financial risk.

Data from the pilot forms the core of the UKGC’s defence of the policy. Fewer than 3% of active customers would trigger intervention processes. Roughly 97% would complete checks without any disruption, a figure higher than the 80% estimate laid out in the 2023 white paper.

Only 0.1% of active accounts, equal to roughly one in 1,000, could not finish the assessment without additional support. Miller said the group that underwent checks also showed higher levels of financial vulnerability, with customers two to five times more likely than the average person to have defaulted on debt or joined a debt management plan in the previous 12 months.

Illegal Platforms Remain a Core Part of the Discussion

The Commission board has not yet approved a full rollout of the checks. Any final plan will require sign-off from the board and ongoing government support. If given the go-ahead, the UKGC will collaborate with the DCMS, operators, and credit reference agencies to develop practical implementation guidance.

Miller also connected the risk check debate to the issue of illegal gambling. Between 2025 and 2026, the UKGC issued 741 cease-and-desist notices, reported nearly 398,000 illegal URLs to search engines, referred 1,068 websites for delisting, and disrupted 1,134 websites via takedowns or geo-blocking.

The Treasury has allocated £26 million over three years to support broader work targeting the illegal gambling market. Miller said:

“One of the areas my own subgroup is working on right now is releasing a national risk assessment of the illegal market, to help make sure all relevant parties are focused on the main risks that may emerge,”

The Commission also expects to receive responses on gaming machine compliance in summer 2026. Operators are required to remove all non-compliant machines from service starting 29 July 2026. Miller said:

“This is the moment where we also need to look at what actions we can take to help keep the consumer experience positive and competitive, particularly when compared to what is offered by the illegal market.”