Free-market think tank questions government's ability to deliver 'frictionless' checks

The UK government's ability to deliver frictionless affordability checks as part of its proposals for gambling reform has been questioned by a representative of a free-market think tank.

Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, claimed the government has "realised frictionless checks are a bit of a myth" and predicted customers will not put up with them.

The government has proposed what it describes as "background checks at moderate levels of spend" to look for issues such as county court judgements, set at a £125 net loss within a month or £500 within a year.

It has also proposed a second tier of checks be triggered at proposed thresholds of a £1,000 net loss in 24 hours or £2,000 within 90 days. These triggers would be halved for those aged between 18 and 24.

Ministers have repeatedly stated their intention for such checks to be "frictionless" and conducted online by credit reference agencies or through means such as open banking, with requests for documentation a last resort.

However, Snowdon said: "My sense of it is the government doesn't really know how to achieve its goal. We've seen this in a lot of government policy areas over the last few years; the stuff on so-called junk food, for example.

"I think they've realised frictionless checks are a bit of a myth insofar as you can check for a County Court Judgement (CCJ) or something like that, and that's frictionless, but where is that going to get you?

"You're not realistically going to ban someone for gambling just because they've had a business go bust in the past or they had a CCJ when they were 18. The question has always been where do we go from there?"

In July, the Gambling Commission published a consultation on how these checks would be put into effect which set out that information provided by credit reference agencies might not be enough to prevent large numbers still having to undergo more intrusive checks. Its consultation closes on October 18.

Snowdon said: "If you leave people to reach the second threshold it's immediately not going to be frictionless because at some point you're going to have to get in touch with this person, as far as I understand it, and start asking questions about their income and you may need to look at bank statements to prove it because people can easily lie.

"Broadly speaking, if they are frictionless they are not very useful and for them to be useful they need to cause friction and that causes all sorts of problems with people who just do not want to have this friction.

"There's no reason they should put up with it and I suspect they won't. Tell me what use is a postcode, for example? Okay, so someone lives in a prosperous area or a deprived area – so what? Are we supposed to assume this person can't afford to place his bet?

"The way I understand it from the consultation is that it's a very crude method anyway. When you're looking at what someone is putting down you're not taking into account their winnings."

• To complete the Gambling Commission's consultation on affordability checks, visit racingpost.com/consultation and follow the instructions.

• The Racing Post also wants to hear from you: What has been your experience of affordability checks since the white paper was published at the end of April, and what do you think of the government's proposals? Have affordability checks affected your betting behaviour?

• It's a chance for your voice to be heard. Email the Racing Post at editor@racingpost.com with the subject 'Affordability checks' to share your experiences, your thoughts about the government's proposals, and your contact details.

Read more on the Gambling Review here:

'There'll be a significant drop-off of customers' - top gambling lawyer warns impact of affordability checks is underestimated 

How losing punters are using bookmakers' fears of the Gambling Commission to hold them to ransom 

'If I can't get a bet on, I would think seriously about whether I'd own horses' 

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