The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has released new insights regarding its pilot of financial risk assessments (FRAs), which took place between 2024 and 2025. In a blog post published on Wednesday, senior executives Helen Rhodes and Sarah Webster pointed out the inadequacies in identity verification practices among gambling operators, citing these issues as detrimental to pilot outcomes and consumer experience. These deficiencies resulted in increased friction, complaints, and regulatory concerns for users.
The blog highlighted that failures during customer onboarding—such as incomplete or incorrect personal details—led to difficulties in matching customers with credit reference agency records, which was crucial for the pilot's aim of providing a smooth financial risk assessment process.
The implementation of FRAs will occur in phases, with the Commission planning to establish a timeline for the first phase after further discussions with industry stakeholders this summer.
The pilot relied heavily on the ability of operators to accurately verify customer identities against third-party data. When matching was unsuccessful, those customers were classified as ‘unmatched’ and faced more cumbersome assessment routines. Although these unmatched cases comprised a small fraction of total assessments, the Commission examined them meticulously, uncovering persistent problems. Issues included using initials instead of complete names, nicknames in place of legal forenames, and providing commercial rather than residential addresses. Such inaccuracies reduced matching success rates, hindered the efficiency of vital protections like GAMSTOP, and heightened susceptibility to fraud and money laundering.
Tim Miller, the outgoing executive director of the Gambling Commission, stated that further updates on data from the pilot would not be available until September. Some industry leaders criticized the identified checks, deeming them as “self-harm on an immense scale.” Calls for the Commission to release a comprehensive data report from the pilot scheme have surfaced, with Grainne Hurst, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), expressing dissatisfaction that a thorough evaluation had not yet been published. She stressed, “The Commission has yet to publish a full evaluation of the pilot, so neither the industry nor the public has seen the evidence needed to justify introducing these checks. These checks cannot be described as genuinely frictionless if they produce unreliable outcomes.”
The Commission reminded gambling operators of their obligations under Licence Condition 17 to verify customer identities, emphasizing that the name, address, and date of birth must align for the same individual prior to allowing them to gamble. According to the blog, over 25% of complaints received by the Commission’s contact centre were related to identity verification issues, which remain a significant driver of disputes escalated to Alternative Dispute Resolution services.
The Gambling Commission also noted a concerning industry trend where identity verification and financial risk flags are typically only addressed at the point of withdrawal, with the Commission criticizing the delayed verification as a source of customer frustration and complaints. This practice not only complicates customer interactions but also risks non-compliance with licensing and anti-money laundering regulations.
While the Commission does not expect every customer to undergo enhanced due diligence at registration, it urges operators to conduct thorough checks to confirm unique identities.
