(AsiaGameHub) –   The Gambling Commission (GC) has informed SBC that the rollout of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) in the UK will be delayed, as additional evidence still requires evaluation.

The length of the delay has not been confirmed. This development follows industry-wide discussions and, in some cases, backlash against the proposed measures—with some critics slamming the checks as not being ‘fit for purpose’.

In response, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) stated it welcomes the regulator’s decision to continue reviewing evidence on FRAs, but work must be done to ensure future proposals are ‘genuinely frictionless’.

This comes after GC’s Director of Policy, Ian Angus, noted in a speech that fewer than 3% of active customers would trigger any action from operators, and of those, 97% would undergo a smooth, frictionless assessment process.

Evidence evaluation still ongoing

The GC board met yesterday with the agenda of deciding whether FRAs should be launched across the UK gambling sector.

The GC has previously stated that “such checks could be for a range of reasons, such as anti-money-laundering, commercial reasons or where there were safer gambling concerns from the gambling business”.

However, the BGC had been considering potential legal action if the regulator pressed ahead with FRA rollout without further scrutiny—but that possibility appears to be on hold, at least for now.

A Commission spokesperson told SBC: “The Gambling Commission Board met to consider next steps on Financial Risk Assessments.

“It was presented with an extensive evidence base but has not yet fully completed its assessment of that evidence. We will communicate further in due course.”

BGC hails delay in FRA implementation

Given the earlier talk of potential legal action, it is no surprise that the BGC has welcomed the delay to FRA implementation.

The BGC spokesperson said: “We welcome the Gambling Commission’s confirmation that it is continuing to consider the extensive evidence submitted on Financial Risk Assessments.

“This is an important and constructive step in the process, and recognition that the evidence provided by industry, stakeholders and experts deserves careful consideration.

“However, there is still more work to do to ensure any future proposals are genuinely frictionless, proportionate, and do not drive customers towards the growing unsafe gambling black market.

“We look forward to continued engagement with the Commission in the weeks ahead.”

“We look forward to continued engagement with the Commission in the weeks ahead.”

Betting and Gaming Council spokesperson

It is important to note that this delay does not mean FRA implementation has been abandoned. Far from it—these checks could still be approved as a way to identify high-spending online gamblers who may be facing financial issues and offer them support.

However, the method of conducting these checks remains a topic of debate.

The GC says assessments would be automatically triggered when a customer spends a certain amount, using data from credit reference agencies.

Many industry stakeholders, though, believe customers may be reluctant to share their data and could instead wager with black market operators to avoid FRAs entirely.