Gambling White Paper: Gambling Commission Timeline

Light touch vulnerability checks will use publicly available data (like history of unpaid debts and  bankruptcy records) to identify risks of harm.

Frictionless financial risk assessments will be more detailed risk assessments, which will run as a pilot program first which would allow operators and credit agencies to test how they would share data as it relates to identifying gambling harm. The pilot of this system will only involve the largest operators.

The pilot of the frictionless financial risk assessments is expected to run from 30 August 2024 to 31 March 2025 (although this could extend to 30 April 2025).

i. a minimum 5 second game speed for all non-slot games;

ii. a requirement for operators to display net spend and net time information for casino games;

iii. a ban on autoplay for all online gambling products;

iv. a ban on operators offering features that facilitates playing multiple simultaneous games (as it relates to casino products);

v.  a ban on audio or visual effects associated with a win of returns less than or equal to the amount staked (which now extends to casinos and not just slots);

vi. a ban on features that reduce the time for a result to be known (e.g., turbo and quick spin) to all online gambling products; and

vii. new information security controls found in ISO27001:2022.

The Gambling Commission Summer 2023 consultation closed on 18 October 2023.  On 1 May 2024, the Gambling Commission published its response, here, as it relates to new requirements on remote game designs.

Updated requirements for security audits took effect on 31 October 2024 – meaning all annual security audits conducted after 01 November 2024 need to be updated to the ISO27001:2022 standard.

By way of example, the changes include requirements that: (i) customers must be prompted to set a financial limit prior to their first deposit; (ii) financial limits must be offered using free-text (rather than pre-determined amounts); and (iii) customer requests to decrease a financial limit must be actioned immediately.

i. remove the prohibition on the use of debit cards on gaming machines, subject to the introduction of appropriate player protection measures in light of the Gambling Commission’s review of the Gaming Machine Technical Standards;

ii. permit direct cashless payments made on gaming machines to a maximum transaction limit of £100;

iii. introduce the current deposit and payment limits to direct cashless payments on gaming machines (i.e., The deposit limits are currently set at £20 for Category B and C machines, and £2 for Category D machines. The committed payment limits are £10 for Category B1, B2, B3 and B3A machines, and £5 for Category B4 and C machines);

iv. require gaming machines that accept direct debit payments to implement minimum transaction time limits and monetary thresholds; and

v. require safer gambling communications on gaming machines that accept cashless payment.

The Government will make changes through secondary legislation which would require a draft negative statutory instrument as it relates to removing the prohibition of the use of debit cards on gaming machines.

In January 2025, the Gambling Commission opened a consultation on Gaming Machine Technical Standards. While that consultation does not address debit card payments on gaming machines, the consultation document does envisage the need to consult on the same were the prohibition on the use of debit cards on gaming machines to be  removed in order to “strike an appropriate balance between regulation applicable to modern payment methods, consumer benefits and protection of the licensing objectives”.