Report
Exploring consumer journeys using deposit limits
Exploring consumer journeys using deposit limits
Key findings - Understanding of a net or gross deposit limit
Respondents who gambled online and respondents who no longer gambled online but had previously used financial limits (a total of 916 respondents) were asked about their experiences and understanding of either a net or gross deposit limit. The remaining 103 respondents, who did not meet these criteria, were not asked about these topics.
The 916 respondents were randomly split into two groups: half were asked questions relating to net deposit limits only, whilst the other half were asked questions relating to gross deposit limits only (a total of 458 respondents within each group).
To gauge levels of comprehension of how net and gross deposit limits work, each group was given a scenario.
Those asked about net deposit limits were shown the following scenario:
A net deposit limit is the overall deposit limit remaining after any amounts have been added or removed from the gross total.
For example: Total Limit – Amount Deposited + Amount Withdrawn = Net Limit
Jane has set a £200 per month total deposit limit on her gambling account.
- She deposits £100 on day 1.
- She does not make any further deposits between day 1 and 13.
- She withdraws £50 on day 14.
What is Jane’s net deposit limit for the rest of the month?
Those asked about gross deposit limits were shown the following scenario:
A gross deposit limit is the overall deposit limit before any amounts have been added or removed.
For example: Total Limit – Amount Deposited = Gross Limit.
Jane has set a £200 per month gross deposit limit on her gambling account.
- She deposits £100 on day 1.
- She does not make any further deposits between day 1 and 13.
- She withdraws £50 on day 14.
What is Jane’s gross deposit limit for the rest of the month?
After completing the scenario-based comprehension question, respondents were asked to rate their confidence in the accuracy of their calculation and were asked further questions about their usage and intent to use a net or gross deposit limit in future (see data tables for full survey results).
Net deposit limits
Net deposit limit group: 458 respondents.
Comprehension of net deposit limits was poor, with slightly more respondents (44 percent) entering an incorrect amount than correct (43 percent), and a further 13 percent selected ‘Do not know’ (see the following Chart 1).
Despite this, respondents’ confidence in the accuracy of their calculation was relatively high, with nearly half (48 percent) providing a confidence score of 75 percent or more out of 100 percent, with 100 percent being ‘completely confident’ (398 respondents)1.
Gross deposit limits
Gross deposit limit group: 458 respondents.
Comprehension of gross deposit limits was comparable to that of net deposit limits; 46 percent of respondents in this group answered the scenario-based question correctly, 39 percent provided an incorrect response and a further 16 percent selected ‘Do not know’ (see the following Chart 1).
Respondents’ confidence in the accuracy of their calculation was high with 43 percent providing a confidence score of 75 percent or higher (387 respondents)2.
Chart 1: Respondent understanding of net and gross deposit limits
Question: What is Jane’s net or gross deposit limit for the rest of the month? (Scenario)
| Comprehension level | Net deposit limits (percentage) |
Gross deposit limits (percentage) |
|---|---|---|
| Answered correctly | 43% | 46% |
| Answered incorrectly | 44% | 39% |
| Do not know | 13% | 16% |
Note: Where figures do not add up to 100%, it is because of rounding.
References
1 Of 398 respondents, those who selected ‘do not know’ for the scenario-based comprehension question were not asked for a confidence score.
2 Of 387 respondents, those who selected ‘do not know’ for the scenario-based comprehension question were not asked for a confidence score.
Key findings - Experiences of using deposit limits Next section
Key findings - Intent to use a net or gross deposit limit in the future
Last updated: 12 May 2025
Show updates to this content
Updated data tables link.