Gambling trade bodies in the UK have pleaded with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to rethink the financial risk assessments (FRAs) in order to prevent tens of thousands of punters from tapping out of the regulated gambling market.

As part of the 2023 Gambling Act Review White Paper, the UKGC is in the process of implementing a total of 63 recommendations to ensure that the UK gambling sector remains sustainable and competitive.

Among those envisioned measures are financial risk assessments for customers, which aim to reduce problem gambling rates by asking for financial documents from players as a means for affordability assurances.

Currently, players have been subjected to financial vulnerability checks since August 2024 – a more light version of the FRAs, which require a check-in only if a £150 net deposit is reached within a 30-day period.

However, FRAs will take this a step further. While the UKGC promised it will make them as frictionless as possible, removing the need to provide bank statements or other personal financial information, the new assessments will automatically look at a customer’s financial background if one spends £1000 within 24 hours or £2000 within three months.

Concerns were raised about the procedure as soon as the UKGC launched a pilot to test the process, with inconsistent information reportedly being returned due to the different methodology that credit reference agencies can use to assess the financial standing of the same person.

This would eventually lead to more complications, with operators most likely having to step in themselves and still request personal information from individuals, despite the UKGC’s vision of a frictionless system.

Unclear whether this issue has been resolved, trade bodies in the UK have become increasingly worried, with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) both publishing statements that warn of a potential loss of thousands of customers.

Speaking to the Racing Post, Grainne Hurst, Chief Executive Officer of the BGC, said: “The financial risk assessments proposed by the Gambling Commission risk duplicating existing protections while creating significant friction for customers, which will only push more people to the unsafe, illegal black market.

“The government should therefore ask the Gambling Commission to pause and review FRAs as part of a wider reassessment of the player protection system, ensuring any changes are evidence-led and protect customers without driving them towards the unsafe, unregulated black market.”

Horse racing will also likely be affected. Writing in The Sun, Brant Dunshea, CEO of the BHA, echoed Hurst’s calls for the UKGC to go back to the drawing board and reconsider FRAs, which could potentially be signed off as soon as this May.

“Horserace betting is proven to be one of the safest forms of betting, but it can only be safe when it is done in the legal, regulated industry,” he said. “Without a better solution the illegal market will only grow, causing more harm, depriving the government of tens of millions of pounds in lost tax revenue, and sparking widespread job losses across Britain.

“Given the recent regulatory and tax changes, I urge the commission and government to carefully consider whether the timing is right for this additional layer of regulation.”

Responding to the Racing Post when asked about the matter, the UKGC stated: “We’re continuing to work on financial risk assessments with one of the key focuses being on removing friction for consumers.”

The re-raising of affordability checks as a talking point comes ahead of the implementation of a new tax regime for UK gambling on 1 April. The lobbying against a tax rise ahead of the Autumn budget last year drove a bit of a wedge between betting and racing, despite the two having the same shared objective.