Why would a licensed casino look at your finances after net deposits of just £150 over a 30-day period? That question lies behind searches for gambling affordability checks, a label the Gambling Commission rejects.
Two different checks sit under the label. Financial vulnerability checks apply now, from £150 in net deposits over a 30-day period, and use public data only. Financial risk assessments, which use limited credit reference data, were announced on 7 July 2026; on 9 October 2026 their first stage still had no confirmed start date.
Deposit limits and the credit card ban are separate rules, and this guide covers all four, along with what it means when a casino asks for documents. If gambling is causing harm to you or someone close to you, the National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, offers free and confidential support on 0808 8020 133. More options are collected in this guide to support, self-exclusion and limits in Great Britain.
Why ‘affordability checks’ is the wrong name
The phrase is widely used, from news headlines to affiliate pages, yet the commission rejects it. In a blog post of 16 April 2026 it said that the proposed assessment “is not an ‘affordability check’” because it would not assess a customer’s income. The same post adds: “There are no proposals or plans to introduce affordability checks.”
That leaves a practical problem for a reader. One word is now doing the work of several separate things, each with its own source, its own dates and its own effect on an account.
Five separate things tend to be blended together: the financial vulnerability check that applies today; the financial risk assessment, announced but without a start date; the deposit limit and the wider rules on financial limits; the ban on credit card payments; and a casino asking for documents, which is a different matter again.
The sections below keep them apart.
Financial vulnerability checks: what happens at £150
Financial vulnerability checks are the only one of these checks in force today. The commission’s announcement of 1 May 2024, updated on 31 January 2025, set them to start at £500 a month from 30 August 2024 and to fall to £150 a month from 28 February 2025. A licensed operator carries them out.
The monthly figure is more precisely a 30-day one. The commission’s blog of 14 May 2026 describes the lower threshold as “£150 net deposits over a 30-day period”.
The check is deliberately narrow. The commission says it will “focus solely on publicly available data” and does not need a customer’s postcode or job title. The signals it looks for are:
- a bankruptcy order or equivalent
- a County Court Judgment (CCJ)
- an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)
- a High Court Judgment
- an Administrative Order or decree
- a Debt Relief Order or equivalent
What the check cannot see matters as much. In the commission’s words it “cannot identify financial difficulties or stress such as defaults and arrears”, and credit reference data is “not permitted as part of a financial vulnerability check”. The assessments covered in the next section are the ones designed to use that kind of data.
A completed check stays valid for six months, even when a customer reaches the threshold more than once. Neither these light-touch checks nor the financial risk assessment pilot will affect consumer credit ratings, the commission also says.
A flag is not a verdict. The commission has reminded operators that they do not have to build automatic responses that add “significant friction”, such as stopping an account because of a single CCJ. It names taking spend levels into account, or applying automated deposit limits, as alternatives. For a player, a flag can therefore lead to a conversation, a lower limit or further checks.
Financial risk assessments: what is coming, and when
The commission announced financial risk assessments on 7 July 2026, in a news article and a blog post by Helen Rhodes, its Director of Major Policy Projects and Evaluation. They differ from vulnerability checks in what they can see.
The commission says assessments give gambling businesses “access to limited credit reference data for the first time”, with the aim of identifying “high spending customers in current financial difficulties”. Four data points are used: defaults, multiple arrears, significant arrears and a Debt Management Plan. For the wider picture of harm, see what the official gambling harm figures show.
An assessment is triggered by net deposits, and the thresholds depend on the stage and on the customer’s age. The table shows what the commission published on 7 July 2026.
| Stage | Aged 25 and over | Aged under 25 |
|---|---|---|
| Stage one (largest operators) | £5,000 net deposit in a rolling 24-hour period | £2,500 in a rolling 24-hour period |
| Intermediate stage | To be set after further engagement | To be set after further engagement |
| Final stage | £1,000 in a rolling 24-hour period or £3,000 in a rolling 90-day period | £750 in a rolling 24-hour period or £2,000 in a rolling 90-day period |
For most customers the commission describes “a frictionless, document-free assessment provided by Credit Reference Agencies, with no impact on their credit score”. It repeats that the assessments will not affect a customer’s credit rating.
Some customers cannot be assessed that way, for example after recently arriving in Britain or changing name or address. An operator may then turn to “other processes such as open banking or document checks”.
The pilot analysis, published on 16 April 2026, found that 97% of assessments would be frictionless, against the 80% estimated in the white paper. Only 0.1% of accounts, or one in every 1,000, could not be assessed without friction. Fewer than 3% of active accounts would lead to any step by the operator.
The commission says that “no enforcement action will be taken for a failure to act following an assessment during the early stages of roll out”, so long as existing requirements are met.
On 9 October 2026 the commission had not confirmed a start date for stage one. Its July blog says: “The start date for Stage 1 will be confirmed in the formal consultation response document.” The commission does not name the operators in stage one, so this guide does not either.
Until a date is confirmed, financial risk assessments describe what is planned, not what happens on a casino account today.
What does each check actually look at?
The table sets the four rules side by side as they stood on 9 October 2026.
| Rule | Who acts | What it uses | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vulnerability check | Licensed operator | Public records such as CCJs | In force |
| Risk assessment | Operator | Limited credit reference data | Announced, no start date |
| Financial limits | You set, operator offers | The amount you choose | Rules since 31 October 2025 |
| Credit card ban | Operator | The payment method | In force since 14 April 2020 |
The vulnerability check uses public records, and the risk assessment will use limited credit reference data. Only the risk assessment is still waiting for a start date.
Deposit limits: the rules since October 2025 and September 2026
Limits are the one tool in this guide that the player sets. Two changes affect how licensed operators must offer them, and both come from the commission’s own pages.
From 31 October 2025, according to the commission’s announcement of 7 October 2025, every licensed operator must:
- prompt a customer to set a financial limit before the first deposit
- remind customers every six months to review their account and transactions
- let customers set a limit by typing in their own amount
- link to limit-setting from the homepage and from deposit pages
- action any request to decrease a financial limit immediately
The second phase applies from 30 September 2026, as the commission’s blog on customer-led tools explains. Operators must offer gross deposit limits, and only this type of limit can be called a “deposit limit”. The commission defines it as a limit “based solely on the amount a customer pays into their account over a set duration”. Gross limits run for a fixed period. Net deposit limits may stay available beside them.
The difference shows up when money leaves the account. A deposit limit counts only what is paid in, while a net deposit limit or a loss limit can also take withdrawals into account.
Raising a limit is slower than lowering one. The commission’s technical standard on financial limits (RTS 12) says that a customer-led limit may be increased only at the customer’s request, only after a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours, and only once the customer has confirmed the request at the end of that period. A reduction is different: it must be implemented immediately.
Can you gamble with a credit card?
Not with a business licensed by the commission. Credit card gambling has been banned since 14 April 2020, and the commission’s announcement of 14 January 2020 said the ban covers “all forms of land-based and online gambling”. Its guidance for players is blunt: “Gambling businesses must not accept credit card payments for gambling.”
For e-wallets such as PayPal or Skrill, the commission says an operator should check that the e-wallet is not topped up with a credit card.
The ban does not extend to land-based lotteries paid for face to face, such as National Lottery tickets and society lottery tickets bought in a shop. So the rule is not “no credit cards anywhere”.
A site that takes credit card payments from a player in Great Britain is not following a rule that applies to licensed businesses. That can be a sign that the business does not hold a commission licence. The public register is where to confirm it.
When a casino asks for documents
A request for documents is a different thing from a financial check. The commission’s guidance on age, ID and financial verification, last updated on 13 April 2022, says operators look at “appropriate deposit or loss thresholds based on your income”. A bank statement can be requested to help check that your source of funds is legitimate.
Timing is covered too. If a business needs more information before you can withdraw, “they should ask promptly and not only when you want to withdraw your funds”.
Keep a note of when a request was made and what was asked for. If the answer is not satisfactory, the commission’s advice is to “contact the company directly”. If you are not satisfied with the result of the business’s complaints process, you can take the complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider after eight weeks. How identity and source of funds checks work is a separate topic and is not covered in full here.
Who has to follow these rules, and who does not?
Every rule in this guide applies to businesses licensed by the commission to operate in Great Britain. For the wider framework, see how the Gambling Commission regulates online casinos.
Sites without a commission licence sit outside all of it. The commission says that such sites are “unlikely to operate in a way that is fair or safe”. A site that presents itself as free of checks is therefore not following the rules above, and the guide to online casinos licensed by the Gambling Commission explains how to tell the difference.
If a check raises a question about your own gambling
Any of the gambling affordability checks described above, or a limit that has been reached, can bring a person face to face with their own spending. A person experiencing gambling harms can call the National Gambling Helpline, run by GamCare, on 0808 8020 133. The support is free and confidential.
Two tools sit in the player’s own hands. Limits, described above, can be lowered with immediate effect. Customers of some banks can also block gambling payments, and the commission’s page on blocking gambling transactions lists them.
This guide gives general information and is not legal or financial advice. The rules are those of the Gambling Commission on 9 October 2026, and the dates for financial risk assessments may change once the commission confirms them.
Questions people ask about gambling affordability checks
Do gambling affordability checks affect your credit score?
No, according to the commission. It says neither the financial vulnerability checks nor the financial risk assessment pilot will affect consumer credit ratings, and that the assessments will not affect a customer’s credit rating.
What is the £150 financial vulnerability check?
It is a check by a licensed operator once a customer’s net deposits reach £150 over a 30-day period. It uses public data only, such as bankruptcy orders, CCJs and IVAs, and not credit reference data. The result stays valid for six months, even if the threshold is reached again.
When do financial risk assessments start?
The commission has not confirmed a date for stage one. On 9 October 2026 it had said only that the start date “will be confirmed in the formal consultation response document”. This answer will change once that document is published.
Will a casino ask for bank statements or payslips?
A licensed casino can ask for information to check that your source of funds is legitimate, and the commission’s guidance gives a bank statement as an example. The guidance does not name payslips, though operators may look at thresholds based on your income. A business should ask promptly, not only at withdrawal.
Are the thresholds different for under-25s?
Yes, for financial risk assessments. At stage one the net deposit threshold is £5,000 in a rolling 24-hour period for customers aged 25 and over and £2,500 for those aged under 25. The final stage uses £1,000 in a rolling 24-hour period or £3,000 in a rolling 90-day period for the older group, and £750 or £2,000 for the younger group.
What is the difference between a deposit limit and a net deposit limit?
A deposit limit, the only type that can use that name since 30 September 2026, is based solely on what a customer pays into the account over a set period. A net deposit limit also takes withdrawals into account. Operators must offer gross deposit limits on a fixed period, and net limits may stay available as well.
Can you lower your deposit limit straight away?
Yes. Since 31 October 2025 licensed operators have had to action all customer requests to decrease a financial limit immediately. Raising a limit takes longer: under the commission’s technical standard on financial limits (RTS 12), an increase needs a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours and the customer’s confirmation at the end of it.
Can you use a credit card to gamble online in the UK?
No, not with a business licensed by the commission. Gambling businesses must not accept credit card payments for gambling, and the ban has applied to land-based and online gambling since 14 April 2020. Land-based lotteries paid for face to face are the exception.
Sources
All pages were read on 9 October 2026 unless a different date is given.
- Gambling Commission: Commission to introduce Financial Risk Assessments in staged approach (7 July 2026, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission blog: Financial risk assessments update – July 2026 (7 July 2026, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission blog: Financial risk assessments pilot – update on post-pilot analysis (16 April 2026, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission blog: Financial vulnerability checks – insights from implementation (14 May 2026, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: New rules boosting safety and consumer choice (1 May 2024, updated 31 January 2025, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: New deposit limit rules provide clarity for consumers (7 October 2025, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission blog: Changes to customer-led tools – financial limits (23 October 2025, updated 26 May 2026, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: Remote gambling and software technical standards – RTS 12 Financial limits (published 2 February 2021, updated 30 September 2026, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: Gambling using a credit card (updated 23 November 2021, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: Gambling on credit cards to be banned from April 2020 (14 January 2020, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: Age, ID and financial verification (updated 13 April 2022, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: Taking your complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider (updated 15 May 2026, accessed 9 October 2026)
- Gambling Commission: I want to know how to block gambling transactions (updated 25 February 2025, accessed 8 October 2026)
- GamCare: Talk to us now (accessed 8 October 2026)