A majority of British customers who place a minimum of PS1,000 (EUR1,143/$1,247) per monthly would not agree to produce documents for affordability checks. This is according to new research by OLBG.
A YouGov survey of 1,007 players revealed that 65.4% would not provide payslips, bank statements, or other documents to a gambling operator if asked. Only 34.6% said they would.
The spending range of players affected the percentage. At 75.5%, the lowest spending consumers were those who spent less than PS5 per month. The group with the most willingness to spend (50.4%) spent an average of PS301-PS500 per month.
16.2% of players did not provide the necessary documentation, but 18.5% stated that they would provide it if asked. 29.2% said they hadn’t been asked and wouldn’t bet if asked. Another 27.4% stated they weren’t asked and that they would provide this information if asked.
After being asked for documents, 3.9% switched to another licensed operator, while 0.9% opted to bet with an operator that was not licensed after facing affordability checks. If asked, 3.2% would also bet with an unlicensed operator.
When asked for documents, 0.8% of the players quit betting.
Richard Moffat, chief executive of OLBG, stated that most bettors who were asked for documents had provided them. “More important, very few people who were asked to provide documents stopped gambling or went into the black market. This is the most unintended consequence for measures that aim to make gambling more responsible.
“However, there’s a big difference in willingness between those who were asked and those who weren’t.”
This survey is published ahead of the publication of the highly-anticipated whitepaper on gambling in Great Britain. The potential new laws for gambling industry include mandatory affordability checks and mandatory affordability checks.
Moffat stated that many players had either moved to another licensed operator already or were willing to do so if it was affordable.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about what will happen if affordability checks are made mandatory for all licensed operators and imposed at specific levels.
