Experian is leveraging Open Banking to give gaming websites better oversight of their users gambling affordability.

A total of £5.4 billion was gambled remotely, mostly online, in the UK in the year to March 2018, according to the Gambling Commission. Until now, gaming organisations have been unable to take in to account what people can afford to stake.

Once a customer has given their permission, Experian’s Open Banking service allows gaming companies to understand a person’s disposable income, weekly income and expenditure, and how much they spend with other gambling websites.

The FCA granted Experian permission to offer second payment services directive (PSD2) related services in June. With consent, it can use current account information to help organisations understand which products and services will be most suitable.

Gaming companies may also work with specific customers to assist in setting rules whereby customers only spend what they can afford to, limiting the risk of gambling related harm. Customers can be automatically accepted, declined or referred to their in-house responsible gambling team to help manage their spending.

Tom Blacksell, managing director of B2B at Experian, said: “Experian is already in discussions with a handful of the biggest gaming companies in the UK, who can see the importance of this affordability check – it is one of many new services we are working on to bring the benefits of data sharing to businesses and their customers.”

The Rank Group is one of the first operators embarking upon a proof-of-concept trial of the service, launching in the next few weeks.

Rank’s director of customer diligence Rory Howard added: “The automated exchange of data in association with advanced analytics will enable us to help our customers gamble within their means.”

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