The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) says its members have achieved record compliance rates for age verification checks.
The figures for this have been provided by industry auditor Serve Legal, which has been working with the regulated betting and gaming sector since 2009.
Looking at bookmakers, they achieved a 91.4% age verification pass rate across thousands of annual checks, while casinos’ pass rate is 98%.
This means that, since Serve Legal began working within the industry, there has been a 30% compliance increase across the industry.
According to the BGC, regulated betting and gaming is the leading sector in the UK for age verification compliance, with 10-15% higher compliance rates than alcohol and lottery sectors annually.
BGC Executive Director Standards and Innovation Wes Himes said: “The BGC and our members are incredibly proud of these compliance rates, which put us ahead of our peers in every department.
“I am hugely grateful to Serve Legal for their work over the last 15 years, who have been instrumental in this change. Serve Legal, alongside our members and their dedicated staff, have led the charge in raising standards and setting a new benchmark for excellence.
“Bookmakers and casinos play a vital economic role on the UK’s hard-pressed high streets, as well as in the leisure and tourism sector. But economic contribution has to go hand-in-hand with the highest standards."
Serve Legal Client Manager Ali Deering added: “Compliance challenges can be greater for smaller independent bookmakers. The BGC have done admirable work in bringing them up to speed with the latest compliance support, to offer a level playing field with other big names in the industry.
“At Serve Legal we are proud to be supporting all of the BGC’s members, including casinos, with their due diligence and celebrate the tangible successes in each of them!”
Also, the BGC last week revealed that its members are set to contribute a record £105m ($134m) in levy payments to the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) for the past year.
