AFFORDABILITY CHECKS TO BE DEBATED IN FEBRUARY FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL PETITION

Last Updated: January 17, 2024

Written by Yvonne Greenwood

Affordability checks at gambling websites in the United Kingdom will be debated in parliament on 26 February. The news comes following a petition, which opposed the introduction of widespread affordability checks, had passed 100,000 signatures.

It was the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) which created the petition. Julie Harrington the CEO of the BHA stated:

“The fact that our survey reached the required 100,000 signatures threshold in just 27 days is a powerful testament to the strength of feeling shared by bettors over the proposed checks.

“The BHA will therefore continue to push for changes to the Gambling Commission’s proposals on affordability checks to protect the sport’s financial future and limit the impact on racing bettors.”

THE IMPACT OF AFFORDABILTY CHECKS: THE ROAD TO HELL IS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

The affordability checks from the White Paper have come under plenty of scrutiny ever since the White Paper was made public.

For those of you who don’t know, affordability checks are essentially financial checks. With these laws, players must prove to the sites they want to gamble at that they can afford to place bets.

This means sending through bank statements and other details so that the sites can approve of you being able to bet a certain amount per month.

Under these checks, many players will be limited to only betting a certain amount per month. In some cases, this amount may be less than £100, whether the player likes it or not.

Whilst affordability checks, in theory, sound like they are protecting vulnerable players, there is a danger that they will have the opposite effect.

Several surveys have concluded that around 50% of players are prepared to switch to black market casino sites, should the affordability checks be implemented.

Players who do play at black market gambling websites are vulnerable to numerous dangers. In addition, it means that money earned by British citizens may end up going into nefarious hands. Black market gambling operators are more likely to be involved in money laundering.

CONTRIBUTORS

Greetings, I’m Yvonne Greenwood

Yvonne Greenwood is our talented writer. In the office she goes by the nickname ‘The Machine’ because of her ability to always smash out excellent and relevant articles for our readers at SlotsHawk.com.

Content writer since 2020