New rules for gambling promotion in Britain will come into force later this year.

UK.- The Gambling Commission has announced new rules for gambling incentives and promotions following a consultation on the matter. From December 19, licensed gambling operators will no longer be allowed to offer bonuses or other incentives that combine different types of gambling products. There will also be a cap on bonus requirements. 

The regulator says the new rules are intended to prevent harmful marketing and to make the terms and conditions of bonus offers easier to understand for customers. It will revise the wording in its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) to provide more clarity. 

The ban on so-called ‘bonus mixing’ means that operators will no longer be able to offer promotions that combine casino, bingo, sports or lottery products. For example, promotions that require a customer to place both a sports bet and play a slot game to qualify for a bonus will be prohibited. 

The ban only affects incentives that specifically require the use of different product types to qualify. Operators will still be allowed to combine incentives within the same vertical and will still be able to offer general credit-based offers.

The regulator had received feedback suggesting that cross-selling via bonus offers can confuse customers and lead them to use higher-risk products. A report found a higher risk of harm when customers gamble across multiple products. 

The Gambling Commission says that in the consultation, 50 per cent of respondents were in favour of a ban. However, these were mainly charities, academics and public health advocates. Many licensees opposed the ban, arguing that customers should be allowed to exercise free will and that a ban would harm the flexibility of business and the variety of the products they could offer. 

New limit on bonus requirements

Meanwhile, a new cap on bonus requirements will limit online bonus wagering requirements to 10 times the bonus amount. For example, a £10 bonus offer cannot require a customer to place more than £100 in bets before any winnings can be withdrawn. 

The Gambling Commission said the aim was to end excessive or misleading conditions that force players to gamble more than planned. It argued that high thresholds made it difficult to understand conditions and could cause faster, riskier gaming patterns.

In the consultation, a little over half of the respondents had expressed favour for the limit, while a little under half wanted a complete ban on wagering requirements for bonuses. Consumer advocates argued that even low wagering requirements are harmful and confusing and could trick players into gambling for longer than they intended. 

However, many licensees argued that some requirements were needed to prevent bonus fraud and abuse via the use of bots. Some argued that a limit of 10 times the bonus was the only commercially sustainable option. The Gambling Commission will reword the Rewards and Bonuses section of its LCCP document for operators to provide clarity on the new rules.

Tim Miller, executive director for research and policy, said: “These changes will better protect consumers from gambling harm and give consumers much  better clarity on, and certainty of, offers before they decide to sign up. The Commission will apply changes to promotions terms to end problematic practices which it views has eroded trust with licences.”

New rules for direct marketing

Meanwhile, the Gambling Commission will introduce new rules on direct marketing from May. Customers will have to opt in to receive marketing by product and channel. The introduction of the rules had been put back from January 17 because operators raised concerns that the wording was unclear.

The original wording of the update of Social Responsibility Code section 5.1.12 in the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) gave the impression that operators could have to deny access to services to players who had already opted in until they set marketing preferences. Operators were also in doubt as to whether they could transfer existing customer preferences.

The regulator has confirmed that existing customer preferences can be transferred but only after a player has opted in to direct marketing for specific products and through specific channels. Players must be given the opportunity to update their preferences when they log in from May 1.