Financial Checks for UK Gamblers
In a recent statement from the UK Gambling Commission, Financial Checks for UK Gamblers will be rolled out soon. They claim the financial risk assessments are needed to protect players against financial harm.
They said they will be working throughout the summer to get it implemented. Whether this means it will be ready before the end of the year could be debated. It is however a solid step toward making it a reality for UK players.
Financial Risk Assessments
Based on these assessments it will be decided for the players whether they can afford to gamble the amounts they chose. These assessments will be using credit reports, and other financial risk assessments they determine are needed.
UK Players 25 or Older
The financial checks will affect all players in the UK 25 years or older who hit the monetary threshold. To start out players that have deposited £1,000 or more in a 24 hour period or £3,000 or more in a 90 day period. Those under the age of 25 have lower thresholds.
Are the Financial Checks for UK Gamblers Overreach?
Many say yes. Some say maybe and many with ties to the commission say they are needed. Judging by the feedback seen on some of the industry and business related forums and sites, some are worried it will cause more harm then good.
One has to wonder, if players are misidentified, or fall into some sort of restricted status will they just stop playing, or become part of the group that moves to other operators to avoid this.
- More players playing offshore instead.
- Players being wrongly blocked from play due to mistakes.
- Some players being misidentified.
- Players uncomfortable about providing detailed financial information.
Conclusion
Difficult to call whether this will be good for the operators in the UK and those under the purview of the UK Gambling Commission. On the surface it seems like it might also add quite a bit of extra burden to the operators. At this point we think it is just too soon to tell.
Source Links
The main points of this article is based on the recent statement put out by the UK Gambling cmmmission. It is linked below if you would like to read more.
Commission to introduce Financial Risk Assessments in staged approach.