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Guidance

Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG) advice on proposals for a voluntary code on deposit thresholds

ABSG has given advice to the Gambling Commission in regards to the introduction of an industry measure using net deposit thresholds.

Published
4 February 2025

Last updated
4 February 2025 - Changes

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Contents

Our recommendation

Based on the empirical evidence, we do not support this proposal, for the following reasons:

  • it would allow too much discretion in how operators would act
  • it would not achieve the level of interaction required to minimise harm amongst at risk consumers
  • it would be activated at too high a threshold for both age groups
  • it would not achieve what the single customer view proposals set out to address such as triggering interactions based on customer level of spend and loss and patterns of play across multiple accounts.

Figure 1: False positive and false negative rates at financial risk check thresholds up to £300

The relationship between false positive rates and false negative rates at different deposit thresholds, with the x-axis limited to £300. The graph shows how when the deposit threshold increases, the false negative rate rises quickly up to around £50 and then becomes a steady rise, where as the false positive rate falls quickly and then becomes a steady decline at around £50.

Figure 2: False positive and false negative rates at financial risk check thresholds up to £5,000

The relationship between false positive rates and false negative rates at different deposit thresholds, with the x-axis limited to £5,000. The graph shows how when the deposit threshold increases, the false negative rate rises quickly up to around £50 and then becomes a steady rise, where as the false positive rate falls quickly and then becomes a steady decline at around £50. By £1,000 both lines have become almost level.

Figures 1 and 2 show the relationship between false positive rates and false negative rates at different deposit thresholds. The graphs are identical except for the limit on their x-axes (£300 versus £5,000). At £5,000 within-month threshold, the analysis revealed a false negative rate of 0.9743590 (that is around 97 percent of 'at risk' gamblers in the sample were flagged 0 times during the past 12 months).

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Appendix - ABSG advice on proposals for a voluntary code on deposit thresholds
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