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The UK’s Gambling Commission is set to launch its pilot programme to test how it will require operators to execute controversial financial risk assessments called for in the white paper.

The six- to seven-month pilot starting August 30 will first ask the biggest online gambling companies to sort through historical player data to see whether big-spending customers who are in financial difficulties can be identified. Current data would then be used, Helen Rhodes, the commission’s director of major policy projects and evaluation, said in a  on Wednesday (August 28).

Another phase of the four-stage plan would give operators some data from credit reference agencies to determine whether players in financial difficulty need support, such as reducing marketing or encouraging use of deposit limits, right up to ending the customer relationship.

The pilot programme will use real data, but operators will not be required to act on it, she said.

Credit reference data would be compared to other data collected by operators about a person’s financial vulnerability, Rhodes said.

“We want to tackle cases where customers have been able to gamble large amounts without any checks or support, where it was later identified that this led to significant harm,” she said.

“But we are proceeding cautiously to test whether and how financial risk assessments could be introduced in a way that supports high-spending customers in financial difficulties but also supports  a frictionless customer journey for the vast majority of customers.”

The Gambling Commission has promised that checks will be “frictionless” for most players, and that it and government officials will decide whether the checks are needed before they are implemented in full.

Over the past few years, the effort has drawn controversy over what were initially called affordability checks, including a Racing Post campaign that claimed the checks were already a significant deterrent to free-spending racing fans.

At least one analyst has suggested that the commission’s push to ensure gamblers can afford their spending habits, which dates to 2020, has created an unusual gambling market that is almost devoid of VIP spenders.

But the concept is becoming no longer unusual in Europe: in June, the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) unveiled rules setting thresholds that require operators to conduct affordability checks on all players above the age of 24 depositing more than €700 monthly.

The rules, which come into effect on October 1, set the monthly limits at €300 for those between the ages of 18 and 24.

The UK programme will carry out evaluations, as promised in the Gambling Act Review .

The Gambling Commission and Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport have promised to evaluate every step to identify effectiveness, as well as unintended consequences and lessons for future regulations.