The Gambling Commission has flagged concerns over gaps in the identity verification process used by different gambling operators in the UK, emphasising shortfalls in the process itself and problems with third-party verification providers.

The UK gambling regulator undertook a financial risk assessment pilot scheme between 2024 and 2025, and found that a small proportion of customers could not be matched by credit reference agencies, reports iGaming News.

Commission officials claim that failures in the initial identity verification processes directly contributed – at least in part – to these missing matches. Specific errors identified included registering individuals using just an initial (rather than a full name), using nicknames and recording commercial addresses rather than residential ones.

Helen Rhodes, director of major policy projects and evaluation, and Sarah Webster, senior policy officer, issued warnings over the shortfalls, explaining that they are “concerned by the differing levels of data sensitivity and robustness’ offered by different providers.

“When reviewing cases where failed identity verification processes may have led to unmatched returns, we found that previous customer identification was sometimes based on incomplete or inaccurate information, as well as process gaps, even though these customers were the highest spending,” said a statement from Rhodes and Webster on the Commission’s blog.

“While we recognise that many operators rely on third-party providers for identity verification, we are concerned by the differing levels of data sensitivity and robustness that these providers offer, combined with the differing levels of tolerance among operators.

“This can result in the use of 'fuzzy matching', where customers are onboarded on the basis of partial or equivocal verification of their credentials. This introduces risk across multiple regulatory areas, including contributing to unmatched data.”

The Commission has emphasised operators must ensure registration checks are as robust as possible, with the blog post adding: “Operators must ensure that complete and accurate customer information is collected at registration, that their verification standards provide robust assurance of identity, meet the necessary requirements and that unresolved identity concerns are addressed promptly rather than deferred until later interactions with the customer.

“We will continue to review operator progress in this area and consider whether any further clarification or action is needed.”