The Gambling Commission Proposes Tougher Affordability Tests and Age Checks for UK Online Bingo Operators
26 October 2026
The Gambling Commission has announced a package of new regulations for UK online bingo operators, aimed at boosting safety and consumer choice in line with the government's gambling reform white paper. The changes, which come into effect in a series of stages from August 2024 to February 2025, include stricter affordability checks, enhanced age verification, and improved marketing controls.
What Changed?
The Gambling Commission's latest rules focus on two main areas: financial vulnerability and age checks. For affordability, the changes include:
- Introducing light-touch financial vulnerability checks for online customers with net deposits exceeding £150 per month.
- Banning the use of postcode or job title data in these assessments.
- Prohibiting the confiscation of a customer's funds solely for delayed ID verification.
Age verification intensifies too, under a range of conditions:
- Mandatory age verification "test purchasing" for all land-based licensees, including small operations.
- Tighter checks in premises, with licensees required to verify the age of any customer appearing under 25, rather than the previous 21 threshold.
Key Thresholds and Timelines
The Commission is implementing the changes in a staggered fashion, with different elements coming into force at distinct dates:
- 30 August 2024: Financial checks begin, initially at a monthly deposit threshold of £500. Staff must check IDs of customers appearing under 25.
- 7 May 2024: New age and identity verification rules require operators to confirm name, address, and date of birth before remote gambling is permitted, with no funds confiscated for late ID provision.
Rounded off:
- 28 February 2025: The monthly deposit threshold for financial checks reduces to £150.
Why the Commissioner Says It's Doing This
The Commission justifies the changes as consumer protection measures, intended to safeguard vulnerable gamblers while strengthening age assurance. It describes the financial vulnerability assessments as a means to detect significant issues at an early stage using public data, rather than credit history.
However, the affordability rules are not currently live, with the Commission running pilot programmes for "frictionless" risk assessment and exploring alternative data, such as open banking. The organisation insists it does not plan to enforce open banking access or ban gambling for customers who refuse to share financial details.
What Bingo Operators Must Do
To comply, operators must:
- Conduct regular age verification tests in all venues, including smaller licensed premises.
- Check the IDs of any customer who appears under 25 in a venue and verify remote customers' full details before betting.
- Implement the staged affordability checks using only public data sources.
What's the Impact?
The regulations present both operational challenges and potential friction points for bingo operators. The verification requirements will increase administrative workload and could slow onboarding, both in-premises and online. The deposit data checks, while guarded to minimise customer impact, may still introduce delays and block some gambling accounts.
The staged rollout is designed to minimise disruption, but operators will still face justified compliance challenges. The frequent changes to thresholds and age limit assumptions also raise questions about suitability and effectiveness.
The Commission does not shy away from acknowledging the burden this places on operators, but insists that it is a necessary step to protect consumers. As the changes go live, the real-world impact on the UK bingo sector will become clear - but it's certain to bring significant shifts to the UK online bingo landscape.