First a gambling white paper, then a series of industry consultations, now a public survey. Is the United Kingdom Gambling Commission the industry’s most responsible regulator?
You know how it is. You wait for one significant regulatory change or shift in legislative focus and then they all come at once.
It’s safe to say that the UK’s gambling industry has been in a state of turmoil for a few years now. In 2020, Boris Johnson launched a review of the Gambling Act 2005, raising concerns that the document might need to be updated to apply to the digital age. Indeed, it absolutely did, as at the time the 2005 Act was created, almost all gambling took place in brick-and-mortar betting shops, casinos and racetracks. Now, the industry makes more than 40% of its £14 billion annual revenue from online gambling.
In 2023, the UK gambling white paper (‘High Stakes: Gambling Reform for the Digital Age’) finally arrived. A series of consultations was carried out throughout 2023 and 2024 to address a) the gaming experience; b) support services and c) promotion of responsible gambling, including, of course, the implementation of the controversial affordability checks.
Now, following hot on the heels of the new and upcoming regulatory changes to the UK’s gambling environment, the United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission has released its first ever Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB).
“Data in this report represents the first year of a new baseline, against which future changes can be compared and as such will prove invaluable in deepening further our understanding of gambling across the country,” said Tim Miller, Executive Director of Research and Policy.
Understanding the Great British public’s attitudes toward gambling.
Produced by National Centre for Social Research and the University of Glasgow and featuring responses from 9,804 participants, there are four main aims of the GSGB:
- Identify who is gambling
- What types of gambling activities do they participate in.
- Reasons and experiences for gambling
- Consequences of gambling, on both the player and their family.
“We welcome the UKGC’s efforts in gathering insights into the gambling habits of the UK market. This information will enable operators to better serve the gambling community and ensure the UKGC continues to be regarded as the industry’s most progressive and most forward-thinking regulator. We also applaud the steps taken by the UKGC since the release of the gambling white paper, especially regarding the implementation of affordability checks.
At IDnow, we offer the industry’s most comprehensive affordability check to ensure the checks are carried out seamlessly for both those who need it and those who don’t.
Bruce Glover, UK Gambling Manager at IDnow.
8 most interesting findings from the GSGB.
- 48% of adults aged 18 and over participated in some form of gambling over the last 4 weeks.
- Participants are more likely to gamble online (37%) than in person (29%).
- Most common reasons for gambling:
a) The chance of winning big money (86%)
b) Because gambling is fun (70%)
c) To make money (58%)
d) Because gambling is exciting (55%)
Consequences from gambling.
While the vast majority of those who gamble do so recreationally, spending an average of just £2.70 per week, there are 300,000 people estimated to be engaged in problem gambling.
Financial risk checks, formerly known as affordability checks in the UK, were essentially designed to protect players from gambling online with money they cannot afford to lose. Operators conduct them to ensure they are not encouraging problem gambling, and that their products and services are being used responsibly.
Similar in concept to the ability-to-pay checks conducted by financial service providers of credit cards and loans, financial risk checks run in the background, ultimately satisfying the operator that the gambler has sufficient funds to continue placing bets safely.
Assessing the size and scale of problem gambling in the UK was deemed an important part of the survey. No topic has been more polarizing to the gambling industry than the proposed financial risk checks. Read our two blogs, ‘Why 6 financial risk check indicators are better than 2.’ and ‘Worth the risk. Arguments against affordability checks in gambling.’
The GSGB outlines two different consequences from problem gambling:
Definition of severe adverse consequences:
– Losing something of significant financial value (home, job, business etc).
– Relationship breakdown with spouse or family members.
– Experiencing violence or abuse.
– Committing crime to fund gambling or gambling debts.
Definition of potential adverse consequences:
Reducing or cutting back spending on everyday items like food, clothing and bills.
– Using savings or increasing credit.
– Experiencing conflict or arguments with friends, family and colleagues.
– Feeling isolated from other people, left out or alone.
– Lying to family and others to hide extent of gambling.
– Performing poorly at work or study.
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- Most common (1.6%) severe consequence of gambling was relationship breakdown.
- Most common adverse consequences were reducing spending on everyday items (6.6%), lying to family (6.4%) and feeling isolated (5.5%).
- Male participants who had gambled in the past 12 months (3.5%) were more likely than female participants (2.1%) to experience at least one severe consequence due to gambling.
- 5.9% of adults aged 18-34 were likely to experience at least one severe consequence from gambling compared to just 0.7% of adults aged 55 and over.
- 3.2% of adults who’d gambled in the last 12 months had sought support.
The Great British balancing act.
Creating a marketplace that is attractive for competitors to operators yet safe and secure enough for players to gamble responsibly is no easy feat. In launching the inaugural annual GSGB (which is due to double in size and scope next year), the UKGC is taking significant steps towards achieving this aim.
Our highly configurable platform for identity in the gaming market allows operators to keep abreast of constantly changing regulations and new fraud schemes and scams, while ensuring a safe and secure gaming experience, from the UK to LATAM. With our latest round of platform enhancements, we now offer UK-specific data checks, and financial risk checks, which provide operators with insights into affordability indicators to online gamblers and comply with the latest updates to the UK Gambling Act.
Read more about the UKGC’s plans for the UK’s gambling sector in our, ‘From paper to policy: What’s next for the UK’s gambling sector?’ blog.
For more information on the UK’s ever-evolving regulatory framework, read our interview, ‘Controlling the comfort zone, with Roger Redfearn-Tyrzyk, VP Global Gaming at IDnow.’
By
Jody Houton
Senior Content Manager at IDnow
Connect with Jody on LinkedIn
