Gambling Review White Paper update

[jamesedwards]

Ive said it before, but the idea of sending personal financial information to a Bookmaker does not sit comfortably with me. How many people would have access to the information? Bookmakers arent financial institutions who have protocols and standards in place for handling this type of data.

The new white paper process should replace the existing ad hoc requirements for payslips and bank statements etc.

Once up and running there should no longer be any need to provide any information except in exceptional circumstances. The bookmaker will request an affordability score from their partner credit agency. The only info passed between them will be the customer ID to the credit agency, and then an affordability score back.

[MaxLiability]

Bookmakers arent financial institutions who have protocols and standards in place for handling this type of data.

They're all required to comply with the Data Protection Act.

I don't see much more risk than giving Peter (or anyone) your card details and trusting them not to be hacked or leave it laying around.

You obviously weren't a customer of play2win then, Shaun I remember when they went under, one of the staff sold their database to some company that set half their clients up with some porn company taking a small amount in the first month so they'd bypass the checks then hitting people with a larger amount the second month. Doesn't matter if they comply with DPA you can be sure not all staff do.

Might have been play2win can't remember exactly but Betfair bought their client base in the end and gave everyone a credit for their lost balance.

[MaxLiability]

Only for a few, at the end of the day it's hard to see us pro punters avoiding an affordability check in the long run. And the way Betfair run their business it may be better to get that out of the way as soon as possible rather than them freeze your account when your sat with a large liability. I've known a few people lose out by having accounts frozen whilst some pointless check has been carried out.

And let's face it if you can't pass their affordability check it may well be you're overstretching yourself.

This is exactly right. I had "only" 14k in my account when it was suspended for 3 or 4 weeks, but I knew others had 5 times or more than that in their accounts. I had to provide so many documents that it could be considered extremely intrusive, however I now have an agreed maximum monthly spend limit, which is far in excess of what I need on my currently profitable trading account. It is done and dusted now, "out of the way" as you suggest and I just accept that this is the new world in which we live and operate.

What sort of attitude is that. "Got my pants pulled down by the Government/Betfair, now I am restricted in my trading but it doesnt matter because I am currently profitable". What about everybody else who is starting off on their trading journey or those who make the odd mistake. You accepting what you are instructed to do by the Government just because you are all right and pulling the draw bridge up after you is terrible was to think. This is what is wrong with our society everybody just looks after themselves and they can't see past the end of their own nose.

Doesn't matter whether we agree with it or not, you've got to be pragmatic about the problem. The majority of these checks you'll never even know they've been done.

[jamesedwards]

...The majority of these checks you'll never even know they've been done.

Exactly this. Rather than operators all running around panicking with their own limits, affordability processes, personal info checks etc, this should all be replaced by a seamless background affordability check that the customer doesn't even know is taking place.

If it all works, that is.

[Derek27]

Doesn't matter whether we agree with it or not, you've got to be pragmatic about the problem. The majority of these checks you'll never even know they've been done.

If you get burgled while you're out, it doesn't matter, you'll never know it's happening.

[Archangel]

You obviously weren't a customer of play2win then, Shaun I remember when they went under, one of the staff sold their database to some company that set half their clients up with some porn company taking a small amount in the first month so they'd bypass the checks then hitting people with a larger amount the second month. Doesn't matter if they comply with DPA you can be sure not all staff do.

Scary. And if you think about it, bookmakers probbaly employ more people with gambling and financial problems than any other industry. If they saw an opportunity !

[WisdomOfCrowds]

The only people who have a right to know about my financial affairs are HMRC.

Whatever money I have, I should be free to spend it in whatever way I wish.

Do the Tories not advocate that the individual knows best when it comes to spending? Apparently not!

If I choose to spend £20k on a car, does the dealer have to prove I can afford to spend £20k on a car? Of course not.

They're trying to brainwash us into thinking some form of checks are okay - no checks are okay!

Is this going to stop the 3 people in 1,000 who have a gambling problem? No! They will find a way to blow their money. All they need to do is spend an hour in each of the bookies shops in the town centre filling up the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.

No one wants to see anyone harmed from gambling but education is the way forward - not infringing on the civil liberties of the majority.

The vast majority of problem gamblers will be addicted to the online casinos . This is where the attention should be primarily focussed.

[sionascaig]

Next they will insist on ID cards to vote to stop the non-problem of election fraud - oh wait...

There are some v good tory politicians, just a shame the nutters have been in charge too long.

[peachflame]

Next they will insist on ID cards to vote to stop the non-problem of election fraud - oh wait...

There are some v good tory politicians, just a shame the nutters have been in charge too long.

Backbenchers like Ian Duncan Smith would ban gambling outright if they had the chance.

[Archangel]

Its not very freemarket/libertarian to ban stuff is it!

[firlandsfarm]

If you get burgled while you're out, it doesn't matter, you'll never know it's happening.

[firlandsfarm]

The only people who have a right to know about my financial affairs are HMRC.

Whatever money I have, I should be free to spend it in whatever way I wish.

Do the Tories not advocate that the individual knows best when it comes to spending? Apparently not!

If I choose to spend £20k on a car, does the dealer have to prove I can afford to spend £20k on a car? Of course not.

They're trying to brainwash us into thinking some form of checks are okay - no checks are okay!

Is this going to stop the 3 people in 1,000 who have a gambling problem? No! They will find a way to blow their money. All they need to do is spend an hour in each of the bookies shops in the town centre filling up the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.

No one wants to see anyone harmed from gambling but education is the way forward - not infringing on the civil liberties of the majority.

The vast majority of problem gamblers will be addicted to the online casinos . This is where the attention should be primarily focussed.

Totally agree

[WisdomOfCrowds]

The only people who have a right to know about my financial affairs are HMRC.

Whatever money I have, I should be free to spend it in whatever way I wish.

Do the Tories not advocate that the individual knows best when it comes to spending? Apparently not!

If I choose to spend £20k on a car, does the dealer have to prove I can afford to spend £20k on a car? Of course not.

They're trying to brainwash us into thinking some form of checks are okay - no checks are okay!

Is this going to stop the 3 people in 1,000 who have a gambling problem? No! They will find a way to blow their money. All they need to do is spend an hour in each of the bookies shops in the town centre filling up the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals.

No one wants to see anyone harmed from gambling but education is the way forward - not infringing on the civil liberties of the majority.

The vast majority of problem gamblers will be addicted to the online casinos . This is where the attention should be primarily focussed.

Totally agree

I'm not a fan of the Lords but I hope there's sufficient resistance from them to bring some common sense into this debate.

I fear there will be too many in both houses who do not understand the subject properly but take the opportunity to exert power because they can.

There are many unintended consequences to the bill. How many people employed in the horse racing industry will lose their jobs if betting turnover falls?

If they do pass rules on affordability - which I hope they don't - then the hoops we have to jump through should be totally transparent so we all know exactly where we stand.

[sionascaig]

The solution is blindingly obvious - make the gambling companies entirely responsible for any harm they cause, including; withholding exec bonus, fines related to pre-tax turnover, customer rehabilitation for harm done, refunding customers if they haven't done due diligence - not subjecting the entire population that wants "a flutter" to intrusive checks.

Says it all: facisim - subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation

[Derek27]

The solution is blindingly obvious - make the gambling companies entirely responsible for any harm they cause...

I hope that includes losses due to their mismanagement of markets.