Tote CRO Highlights Problems With UKGC’s Affordability Checks Proposal

The Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) of Tote, the UK’s leading pools betting operator, has joined the chorus of calls urging the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) to reverse its affordability checks policy proposal. Since May last year, the UKGC has been piloting the measure aimed at protecting vulnerable bettors.

Referred to as Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), the UKGC wanted to streamline the process of carrying out checks for bettors spending £1,000 within 24 hours or £2,000 within 90 days. While the procedure is designed to be ‘frictionless’, Tote’s CRO, Patrick Desmond, has poured cold water on the idea.

Horse racing a mere afterthought

Last week, the Arena Racing Company (ARC) CEO Martin Cruddace and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) CEO Brant Dunshea, weighed in with their thoughts on the affordability checks proposal, urging for a rethink. Moreover, research carried out by the Gambling Commission suggested remote betting turnover on horse racing had declined by more than £2 billion between 2021 and 2025.

Now, Desmond, who was speaking at a seminar at the Illegal Gambling Prevention Summit held in Manchester, has outlined his concerns. Indeed, he fears bettors will be turned off by the policy, insisting more power should be put in the hands of the bookies.

He said:

“We’re massively worried. Very simply, it’s reversing the changes being made. I think more judgement needs to be given to operators and less threats of fines and thresholds. Operators are terrified because of the fear of fines. That’s a major thing, but easy to reverse.

“As well as bringing the punters back in, it’s also about bringing the big operators in. A lot of the operators’ focus is now on the US, and quite frankly, they don’t care about the UK and Ireland - they see horse racing as a hassle. Even in terms of fighting the fight, they don’t want to do it if it jeopardises getting their licenses elsewhere.”

Bone of contention

There have been plenty of disagreements over the UKGC’s controversial plan. Interestingly, data pulled up by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) showed that 120,000 racing punters could be asked to provide supporting documentation, indicating they have enough funds to wager with.

Of those, the BGC suggested that 96,000 could refuse to comply with, or worse still, drop out altogether. This, in turn, would create a major headache for the UK’s finest horse racing betting platforms.

At the moment, Tote revealed they have faced challenges trying to introduce new pool products, such as extra place prizes, due to the Gambling Commission wanting to push through its affordability checks.

Black market emphasis

The notion of curbing the influence of the ever-evolving black market remains a concern. To combat this, reports emerged last year indicating that the Treasury had awarded the Gambling Commission a £26 million grant. And Desmond is adamant that erasing the black market should be the government’s main priority.

He added:

“Basically, the biggest racing fans are the ones who’ve been kicked out of the ecosystem. Punters will just vote with their feet. If they’re not getting a good experience, they’ll just stop betting, and they’ll find opportunities elsewhere.

“I can see the black market becoming increasingly more competitive, and that’s because they can afford to do so. Start clamping down on them [black market sites] and stop letting it be a career choice.”