UK operators to be forced to show customers their three month P&L

UK operators will be forced to show customers their profit/loss numbers across all verticals for the prior three months, under new changes to the Remote gambling and software technical standards (RTS) published next week.

The change is part of the first major update to the RTS since 2007, and follows a lengthy period of consultation with the industry.

Under the new rules, the Gambling Commission will require that consumers have “immediate access” to three months history of their activity without having to contact the licensee, with a minimum of 12 months available upon request.

The same rules will require a net deposit figure is made “easily accessible” to punters from the implementation date of the RTS on 1 April 2018.

The commission specified there would be no need to backdate the figure, so accounting can start from that date.

“We were concerned that insufficient historical information, a lack of summarised totals and the need to use information from multiple separate screens or reports can prevent or deter consumers from accessing and using the required information that will enable them to monitor their gambling behaviour,” explained the commission in its consultation document.

“We consider it important that customers are able to access their gambling history for a minimum of 12 months.”

Operators reportedly had “mixed” responses to the proposals, with concerns raised about the amount of resources needed to make these reports available across different verticals and wallets, especially compared to the low level of requests currently received for them.

One operator added: “To proactively show how much customers have lost with us to date is not great for business.”

The full RTS, which includes new standards on a variety of topics including live casino, live progressive jackpots and virtual sports odds, is expected to be published next Friday, with an implementation date of 1 April 2018.