Conducting financial risk checks on customers could prove to be a tough and challenging task for gambling operators in the UK, with a new survey showing that firms are finding it hard to get players to submit their personal financial information as part of the onboarding process.
New Survey Finds Players Hesitant to Provide Financial Info to Operators
The study, commissioned by identity verification solutions provider IDnow, involved a survey of senior compliance representatives from gambling companies in North America, Latin America, and Europe.
The study found that the biggest drop-off rates in the onboarding process of gambling operators happen when customers are asked to provide their personal financial information. Operators also face challenges during the registration and submission of ID documents stages.
Financial Risk Checks Could Push More Customers to Black Market
Things could get much worse when mandatory financial checks (more widely known as affordability checks) – which are among the recommendations of the Gambling Act Review White Paper – are implemented. The majority of the respondents (67%) fear such a measure would lead to a significant drop in player sign-ups within the regulated market. This means some customers could shift to illegal platforms to avoid the financial checks.
Commenting on the findings, Roger Redfearn-Tyrzyk, Vice President for Global Gaming at IDnow, said UK operators should prepare themselves for the challenges associated with the implementation of the financial risk checks.
