Gambling Commission chief Andrew Rhodes: I can understand privacy concerns but difficult choices have to be made over checks

Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes has acknowledged privacy concerns over the proposals for affordability checks but said there were "difficult choices" to be made.

Rhodes assured bettors that their personal information would not be passed to bookmakers and claimed that operators would require less information on customers than they do currently.

He was speaking to the Racing Post as the Gambling Commission gave more details of the plans for what the government has termed financial risk checks, including the pilot of the tier of enhanced checks, which will start at the end of August.

Rhodes said: "People do have privacy concerns and I can understand that, but you have some difficult choices here. Either you put things in place that affect as few people as possible to try and protect those who do need some protections and help to avoid friction for the rest, or you have to have something else.

"The something else is what a lot of people don't like about today's approach by operators and I recognise there are all sorts of issues around that, or you have nothing in place and we know what that looks like because we have had it before and it doesn't end well. This has to be a better way of doing it."

If a frictionless solution is not found a combination of the Gambling Commission, the industry and the government would need to decide on the next steps

Rhodes said customers would not be handing over personal information to bookmakers and assured punters their credit record would not be affected.

He said: "It's a risk rating, so actually operators would have less information about you under this than they would today. If you have had one of these it doesn't go onto your credit record, it doesn't affect your rating, it doesn't affect your ability to get a mortgage."

Rhodes said the data in the pilot would come from credit reference agencies but that open banking could be part of a solution, although he insisted customers would not be forced to agree to it.

He said: "You have a whole suite of different things available to you in this, so people who are prepared and happy with open banking, and those who aren't, you bring those things together through the different products that are available.

"I think people need to understand that open banking is something you have to decide that you want to give access to. You can't be forced to use it."

• Watch: Gambling minister Stuart Andrew on plans for affordability checks

The commission said that permanent rules would not be implemented until data-sharing was shown to be frictionless for the "vast majority" of customers who are checked.

Rhodes added: "We have to be realistic that there will be some people who don't show up with any or much information with a credit reference agency. What this [pilot] will do though is show what that gap is and that then poses a policy question. What do you do about the people in that gap?

"Some will jump to the conclusion they will have to show documents. I think that is a policy question for us because it depends on what the size of that proportion is, it depends on what risk we think there might be there."

Rhodes said that both the Gambling Commission and government had been clear that "if a frictionless check can't be delivered it won't be implemented" and that the regulator would be "really transparent" about how a decision is reached.

If a frictionless solution could not be found then a combination of the commission, the industry and the government would need to decide what the next steps would be.

Asked what would happen in that event Rhodes added: "There will be a policy discussion of where do you go from there but it's impossible to say right now because we need to go through the pilot and see what that tells us."

Work is also taking place between the Betting and Gaming Council and Gambling Commission on a code for anti-money laundering checks as the industry wants to address what to do with low-risk customers.

Rhodes added: "We have already had the first workshop with the industry on that so we are looking to progress that over the next small number of months."

Read these next:

BHA chief Julie Harrington encouraged by interim gambling code but stresses concern over levy review uncertainty 

Gambling Commission confirms plans for six-month pilot of 'frictionless' affordability checks 

Affordability checks: everything you need to know from the Gambling Commission's consultation 

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