Gambling Commission CEO calls for less “conspiracy” in the commentary on affordability checks
Andrew Rhodes explains his concerns over the way the financial risk checks pilot is being debated and insists the scheme is “progressing well”
Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes has shed light on his concerns about the discourse that has surrounded affordability checks and the financial risk pilot as operators prepare to lower the threshold in February.
The chief of the UK regulator, while appearing on the IAGA’s ‘Setting the UK gambling agenda for 2025’ webinar, insisted that the pilot was “progressing well” following its implementation last year.
The pilot, which was first announced in May 2024, has been in effect since August 2024, with the first phase of the “light touch” checks seeing a £500 monthly net deposit limit implemented, before changing to a £125 threshold in February of this year.
The measures are designed to strengthen customer safety and, according to the regulator, will only use “publicly available data” to conduct the checks.
However, concerns among punters and the racing industry have continued to swell, with fears the measures will lead to the decimation of horseracing and force customers into the hands of the black market.
Rhodes said: “It’s not assessing how much can a person afford or be allowed to spend, I think that’s a very complex judgement that the government definitely wants to avoid, the Commission is in the same place.
“I understand the importance of the debate. I worry quite a bit that there is more conspiracy in some of the commentary than there is fact, and I think that’s being lost. But I think everybody is aware of the different things that we’re trying to balance.”
Rhodes continued by detailing how the pilot scheme is progressing, adding that the regulator is “learning a lot” from the findings produced so far.
“The pilot is progressing well. It’s not being used with consumers yet, so nobody is being interacted with it, that we will update in due course. I won’t say any more than that, but it is impressive. We are learning a lot from it.”
Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) CEO Grainne Hurst, who was also present on the webinar, issued her own update on the financial risk checks when pressed for comment by Harris Hagan partner John Hagan.
“On the affordability debate, and is it nearing a conclusion? I’m not sure whether conclusion is the right marker for success,” Hurst remarked.
“Obviously, as Andrew [Rhodes] said, the trial is ongoing. I think it’s really important that the trial is evaluated effectively in order to measure its success. I think it’s too early to do that, but it’s important that what we don’t do is basically pick up something that’s in the financial world and just put it on to betting and gaming customers.
“We need to make sure that there is an effective evaluation of whether that trial is working and whether the pilot is actually genuinely frictionless.”
During the same webinar, Rhodes and Hurst also spoke at length about the danger of the black market in the UK, with the BGC chief revealing plans for a framework to prevent suppliers from supporting unlicensed firms.