UKGC Defends Risk Checks as BGC Warns Over Black Market
Ian Angus, the regulator’s Director of Policy, told the Clarion Payments Providers event that FRAs “are not affordability checks by another name” and do not set customer spend caps.Angus said less than 3% of active customer accounts would trigger either a financial vulnerability check or a risk assessment. Of those, the Commission expects 97% to pass without friction. Only 0.1% of active accounts would fail to complete an assessment through frictionless routes.
The lighter financial vulnerability checks already apply at a £150 deposit threshold over any 30-day period, a level that came into effect on 28 February 2025, after an earlier £500 threshold took effect on 30 August 2024. FRAs remain the more disputed measure.
The Betting and Gaming Council argues the pilot did not prove reliability, proportionality, or better consumer protection. It also warned that different credit agencies may return different outcomes for the same customer, which could force operators to apply more cautious account controls.
The BGC said 65% of British bettors in a YouGov survey would refuse to provide financial documents to retain account access. Its concern is that any request for bank statements, payslips, or extra checks could send customers to illegal sites.
The Commission’s stance drew further criticism after Tim Miller, its Executive Director of Research and Policy, told a CMS conference that a measure cannot be assessed before it goes live. The BGC disputed that position and said the six-month pilot was designed to assess effectiveness before full rollout.
The black market now sits at the centre of the debate. The BGC claims £16.6bn was staked with offshore operators last year and warned that strict FRAs could accelerate that shift. Horse racing, which depends on regulated betting revenue for levy income and media rights, faces direct exposure if the licensed market contracts.
The Commission said it disrupted 1,134 illegal websites and secured 266,667 URL removals. Angus also pointed to £26m in extra funding over three years to support action against illegal operations.
BGC CEO Grainne Hurst said the industry supports proportionate, evidence-based regulation, but argued the current FRA model is not ready for adoption.
TGJ Take
The Commission has numbers on friction, but operators still lack clarity on what happens after a customer fails a check. That is the commercial problem. If risk flags lead to document requests or account limits at scale, regulated brands face churn without a clear compliance upside. For racing, affiliates, and betting operators, the key issue is not the 0.1% figure. It is how cautious operators become once the rules land.
