The Gambling Commission has today announced changes aimed at
increasing consumer control over deposit limits and greater
transparency of customer funds protection by operators.
A further change to the Commission's Licence Conditions and
Codes of Practice (LCCP) will also pave the way for
implementation of Government's upcoming
statutory levy (opens in new tab).
The changes follow a consultation and are consistent with the
2023 White Paper High stakes: gambling
reform for the digital age (opens in new tab).
New customer led tools
New rules will give consumers more effective ways to manage their
gambling by making it easier to set and maintain deposit limits
on their online accounts, in ways that work best for them.
From 31 October 2025 all gambling businesses must prompt their
customers to set a financial limit before they make their first
deposit and make it easy to review and alter this limit at any
point after.
These rules will take good practice already offered by some
operators and expand that so customers can expect the same
standards across the industry.
Gambling businesses will also be required to remind consumers
every six months to review their account and transaction
information – this will help consumers consider if they want to
change existing, or set new, deposit limits.
Our work revealed recent changes by some operators on how deposit
limits are offered, which could cause confusion for consumers. As
a result, we will launch a short supplementary consultation on
proposals to improve consistency and transparency for consumers
on how financial limits work.
Transparency of protection of customer funds
Operators who hold customer
funds must already set out in the terms and conditions
whether these are protected in the event of insolvency, the level
of such protection and the method by which this is achieved. They
must also make this information available at the point at which a
customer first deposits money.
The level of
protection must be described as either ‘not protected –
no segregation', ‘not protected – segregation of customer funds',
‘medium protection' or ‘high protection'.
From 31 October 2025 operators whose customer funds are ‘not
protected' in the event of insolvency must actively remind
consumers once every six months that their funds are not
protected.
Whilst there is no legal duty on gambling operators to protect
customers funds in the event of insolvency, many of them do so
voluntarily. The changes will help consumers understand which
operators protect their funds and which do not – information
which will support them in making choices about who they gamble
with.
Changes connected with the new statutory levy
The Commission's LCCP currently requires operators to make annual
financial contributions to a list of research, prevention and
treatment organisations.
This requirement will be removed close to the introduction of
the government's statutory
levy (opens in new tab) (expected to come into force on
6 April 2025) as it will become obsolete. We will notify
licensees of the date of implementation as soon as the
Parliamentary process is complete.
Tim Miller, Commission Executive Director for research and
policy, said: “These changes illustrate our commitment to
ensuring gambling is fair and open by improving consumer
empowerment and choice.
“These changes will help consumers decide on deposit limits,
enable them to keep track of their spending and ensure they are
fully aware of what happens to their funds should an operator
become insolvent.
“We will now continue our work to deliver our remaining White
Paper commitments, including our programme of evaluation.”
Read the full Commission Autumn 2023
consultation response
