Gambling Commission director of major policy projects and evaluation Helen Rhodes has insisted the regulator does not have regulatory requirements in place for operators to conduct affordability checks.
Speaking at iGB L!VE yesterday, 2 July, Rhodes was asked in a Q&A session following her speech if the body would offer more guidance on financial risk checks.
In May, the Gambling Commission reported that 97% of the financial risk assessments in its latest pilot were “frictionless”.
While the pilot scheme continues to take place, albeit via a closed loop system and not impacting live accounts, some industry stakeholders remain concerned about the regulatory requirement aspect.
The Gambling Commission has stated regularly in recent months that it has not required operators to conduct such checks, a claim which has been disputed by some critics.
Rhodes said: “We don’t have specific regulatory requirements relating to affordability checks and are not proposing any.
“This is about identifying customers who are in current significant or imminently worsening financial difficulties by flagging customers who are, for example, in significant or multiple arrears, defaults or bankruptcy.
“We don’t have any regulatory requirements in place for affordability checks, and it’s important that we do continue to state that because customers are often told that there is a specific threshold or a specific point at which affordability checks are required.
“It can be very confusing for customers to understand when they hear the term ‘affordability check’ that something like financial risk assessments aren’t currently in place, and it’s really important for us to maintain that transparency for customers.”
With the pilot scheme’s third stage having concluded at the end of April, the Gambling Commission will spend the summer analysing the data garnered from the programme.
Rhodes said that once that is complete, the regulator will look to issue further concrete guidance for operators.
She added: “We’d like to look at what guidance might be appropriate for operators if they were introduced.
“And through that, I think we can give a bit more clarity on the term ‘affordability’ and how it differs from financial risk assessments.”
Furthermore, Rhodes said the Gambling Commission was engaging with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on collaboration around the financial risk assessments pilot.
She noted: “We work with the FCA on sharing information about our own research in relation to open banking data, and we work with them on discussing how our regulation and their regulation of open banking can work in synergy to ensure that any offer in the gambling sector is appropriate for consumers.”
The post Gambling Commission: No regulatory requirements in place for affordability checks first appeared on EGR Intel.
Director of major policy projects Helen Rhodes says further guidance will be issued to operators once analysis of pilot scheme has been completed
The post Gambling Commission: No regulatory requirements in place for affordability checks first appeared on EGR Intel.