SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) states that it has been forced to defend itself against unwarranted criticism and daily attacks from the Racing Post.
This afternoon, the Commission published an open letter from its Chief Executive, Andrew Rhodes, as a ‘right of reply’ to ‘imbalanced stories’ published by the Racing Post concerning financial risk checks as part of UK gambling’s ongoing consultation.
The Commission notes that it “penned a letter to the Racing Post’s readers page to set out our position on the consultation and clear up misunderstandings about the proposed checks.” However, “the Racing Post has refused to publish the letter, despite its content being highly relevant to readers,” – in which coverage is deemed to show a “blatant lack of balance” by the newspaper.
As such, an open letter was published to clarify misunderstandings on proposed checks, through which the Commission hopes to encourage Racing Post readers to participate in UK gambling’s regulatory consultation.
Rhodes first addressed privacy issues related to financial risk check proposals. He commented, “Readers might easily assume – based on the volume and nature of the coverage – that under the proposals, a significant proportion of gambling consumers would need to hand over payslips or bank statements when they want to place a bet.”
Contrary to the Racing Post’s prevailing narrative, the Commission reaffirms that only 3% of gamblers would be subject to financial risk assessments via credit reference agencies or open banking data.
Of the estimated 3% of gamblers facing checks, the Commission maintains that only 0.3% of account holders would be asked to directly provide additional financial information – “This means 99.7% of customers would not be asked to directly provide any information.”
Regarding how financial checks will be conducted, the Commission stands by its estimate that 90% of assessments would use credit reference agencies and open-source banking through a regulated third-party provider. Furthermore, Rhodes assures readers that gambling companies would not have access to a customer’s full bank account details.
He further clarified that the proposals are intended only for online gambling verticals and will not affect traditional bookmakers or racetrack betting.
The Commission also reiterated that soft credit checks, as part of the proposal, would not negatively impact a customer’s credit scores. Additionally, no data regarding a customer’s gambling behaviour will be shared with the broader financial sector.
Highlighting the need for greater protections, the Commission cited the Health Survey for England 2018, which reported that 3.7% of people betting online experience problem gambling, with an additional 5.2% at moderate risk of gambling harm.
In conclusion, the Commission supports the government’s plan to implement a frictionless system to protect customers without causing unnecessary inconvenience.
“There remains another four weeks of the consultation, and we welcome all responses to ensure we strike the right balance between safeguarding individual freedom to gamble and protecting the most vulnerable from gambling-related harm,” Rhodes concluded.
