The UK Gambling Commission has warned remote gambling operators that weaknesses in customer identity verification contributed to failed matches during its financial risk assessment pilot, creating unnecessary friction for some high-spending players.
The regulator said its analysis of the pilot found that a small proportion of customers could not be matched successfully with records held by credit reference agencies. In several cases, the problem could be traced back to incomplete or inaccurate information collected when accounts were opened.
Examples included operators recording only a customer’s initial rather than their full name, accepting nicknames instead of legal names and using commercial addresses rather than residential ones. Some accounts contained more than one of these issues. The Commission said such practices reduce the effectiveness of third-party data matching and may fall short of existing identity-verification requirements.
The findings are significant because the planned financial risk assessment system is designed to operate without customers routinely providing financial documents. Credit reference agency data will instead be used to identify high-spending customers who may already be experiencing serious financial difficulties. The Commission says 97% of customers who require an assessment should be able to complete it frictionlessly, while fewer than 0.1% of all accounts are expected to require a check but be unable to obtain one through the automated process.
The regulator also highlighted wider consequences of poor verification. Its casework has identified customers registered under middle names rather than their legal forenames, creating mismatches with systems including GAMSTOP and potentially weakening self-exclusion protections. Weak identity controls can also increase exposure to fraud and anti-money laundering risks.
Under Licence Condition 17, remote operators must establish that a customer exists and ensure their name, address and date of birth correspond to the same person before allowing them to gamble. The Commission stressed that operators should resolve identity questions as early as possible rather than waiting until a customer requests a withdrawal. More than a quarter of complaints received by its Contact Centre involve identity-verification issues, while the subject remains one of the most common disputes reaching Alternative Dispute Resolution providers.
The warning comes as the Commission prepares for the staged introduction of financial risk assessments following its decision to proceed with the system in July. The first stage will initially focus on customers of the largest operators who exceed £5,000 in net deposits over a rolling 24-hour period, with a £2,500 threshold for customers under 25. Later stages are expected to broaden the system to lower spending thresholds.
The regulator has not yet confirmed the start date for the first stage. Implementation groups are being used to work through practical arrangements with operators and credit reference agencies before a formal timetable is published.