Flutter’s Ian Proctor: Gambling act review provides opportunity to reset sector
UK & Ireland executive chairman admits current laws have not kept pace with industry innovation as he outlines operator’s Affordability Triple-Step solution
Flutter Entertainment UK & Ireland executive chairman Ian Proctor believes the review of the Gambling Act 2005 provides an important opportunity to “reset” the UK gambling market.
In an opinion article published by City A.M, Proctor said gambling had undergone a technical transformation since the act was passed more than 15 years ago but asserted that rule changes had not kept pace with a changing industry.
Addressing the controversial issue of affordability checks on UK gamblers, he called for legislators to find a “critical balance” between protecting the vulnerable and unfairly penalising passionate punters.
“In essence, it is about looking at financial vulnerability in combination with a range of factors to prevent harm,” Procter explained.
“Inevitably this complexity makes it harder for us to come up with a neat, one size fits all answer and I recognise that the nuances and tailoring in our response will lead some to cry foul and believe that we are fighting to retain the status quo.
“We are not, we are looking to drive the right kind of change which works, even if it isn’t easy,” he added.
A new study commissioned by GambleAware has cast doubt on industry-determined deposit limits. It found that players would set lower thresholds when given the freedom to pick their own limits from a blank canvas.
In response, Proctor highlighted Flutter’s newly developed Affordability Triple-Step, which uses risk-based evidence derived from several sources including behavioural patterns, session duration, products used and frequency of bets.
He suggested that Flutter would apply appropriate spend limits for customers with financial red flags and would not hesitate to intervene where harmful behaviour was identified.
However, Proctor acknowledged the need for a “spending backstop” to protect players not identified during the first two steps, suggesting a bespoke, tailored approach would be more beneficial than a blanket one.
In addition, he claimed that younger customers should have lower backstops due to their lower affordability thresholds and higher risk of gambling-related harm.
“The Affordability Triple-Step could be a critical piece of the puzzle in reducing gambling harm and we believe it is a valuable tool in helping customers know and keep to their limits,” Proctor explained.
“We have shared some of this thinking with the Gambling Commission and will be including it in our submission to the gambling act review,” he added.