The UK Gambling Commission has confirmed a staged rollout of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), beginning with customers showing the highest gambling spend before expanding to lower thresholds.
The regulator said the approach follows consultation, stakeholder engagement and pilot testing. It believes the system will improve how operators identify customers experiencing financial difficulty while reducing reliance on document requests.
Research cited by the Commission found high-spending customers are between two and four times more likely to have a debt management plan and between two and five times more likely to have recorded a default during the previous year than the wider population.
Rollout begins with largest operators
Stage one will apply through the largest gambling operators and initially cover customers whose net deposits reach £5,000 within a rolling 24-hour period. According to the Commission, fewer than 0.5% of customers exceed that level. For younger customers and other higher-risk groups, the opening threshold will be £2,500 over the same period.
The Commission will confirm the implementation timetable after further engagement with operators and stakeholders.
Assessments will use Credit Reference Agency data without affecting customers’ credit scores. Once fully introduced, customers aged 25 and over will be assessed after net deposits exceed £1,000 over 24 hours or £3,000 over 90 days. For customers under 25, those thresholds will be £750 over 24 hours or £2,000 over 90 days.
Pilot results and criticism
The Commission said pilot testing showed 97% of customers exceeding the spending thresholds could be assessed through Credit Reference Agency information, above the 80% estimate in the 2023 White Paper. Fewer than 3% of gambling accounts are expected to require an assessment, while fewer than one in 1,000 accounts will need alternative verification.
Operators will not face enforcement action during the early implementation period solely for failing to act on an FRA result, although existing licence conditions remain in force.
Sarah Gardner, Acting Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, said: “We are confident that our approach, using high-quality data, will enable support for high-spending customers in financial difficulties, while reducing friction for customers who are not in financial difficulties by removing the need for unnecessary and unpopular document checks to understand financial risk.
“We have listened to feedback throughout the pilot process which has led to us deciding to carefully proceed. We will work with key partners to make sure that they are implemented in the most effective way for consumers and operators.”
The Betting and Gaming Council said it was “deeply disappointed and frustrated” that the rollout would proceed.
Chief executive Grainne Hurst said: “The pilot exposed inconsistencies in the information returned by credit reference agencies, with the same customer potentially receiving different outcomes depending on the provider. Customers risk being wrongly identified as financially vulnerable based on a system that remains unproven. That is not a sound basis for regulatory intervention.”
Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross said: “I welcome the Gambling Commission’s decision to implement financial risk assessments in a careful, phased way. Attention must now turn to successful implementation, so that financial risk assessments work for consumers, gambling operators and the wider ecosystem.”
Source:
“Commission to introduce Financial Risk Assessments in staged approach”, gamblingcommission.gov.uk, Jul 7, 2026
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