UK Betting Shops Perform Top for Age Verification

Gambling operators and betting shops have been on the receiving end of lots of bad press over the last couple of years, so now and then, it’s nice to hear some positive feedback. As it turns out, when it comes to age verification and checking the ID of players, UK betting shops have come top of the class.

In fact, in 2021, over 90% of UK betting shops ensured they asked their customers to prove their age, compared to just 67% when checks first began a few years ago. This is not only a huge improvement on processes and procedures, but another huge step towards stopping underage gambling and gambling related harm in young Brits.

UK Bookies Coming Out on Top

The recent report was carried out by independent analysts Serve Legal, looked into how any land-based operators ensure all players are legally over the age to gamble. They found that betting shops performed much better than other retailers that were licensed to sell goods related to gambling. Only 77% of supermarkets carried out checks and just 76% of petrol forecourts asked for ID.

The Betting and Gaming Council have acknowledged these findings and are dedicated to ensuring customer safety and remaining diligent when it comes to enforcing robust age verification processes.

Online Age Verification Tools

As well as ensuring land based operators and retails abide by the strict age verification processes, the Betting and Gaming Council stressed that increased checks and systems had also been implemented in other websites and gambling platforms.

The Betting and Gaming Council also fund the Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme, donating around £10million towards protecting young British players from gambling related harm. They have also developed new tools in order to help prevent underage gambling and to stop under 18s being targeted by gambling advertising.