AML Meets Safer Gambling: Where Does Accountability Really Lie?

The regulatory landscape in the gambling industry has evolved rapidly in recent years.  

Twelve months ago, we witnessed the launch of the Gambling Commission’s new player safety regulations. This included the introduction of vulnerability checks, as part of a wider roll out of comprehensive regulatory reform aimed at increasing player safety. In the latest development, from 31^st October 2025 gambling operators will be required to prompt customers to set financial limits and review them regularly.

In addition to challenges around player vulnerability, the sector is also targeted by a range of financial crimes, including fraud and identity theft. Perhaps the costliest and reputationally-damaging, however, is money laundering – with organised criminals taking advantage of the opportunity to play with dirty money and leave the online casino with legitimate funds.  

Operators must therefore comply with a range of additional regulations, including The Proceeds of Crime Act, The Terrorism Act, and The Gambling Act.

The lines between an operators’ Anti-Money Laundering (AML) obligations and safer gambling responsibilities are becoming increasingly intertwined. Operators find themselves under mounting pressure to meet compliance standards, in a way that balances financial integrity and player protection.

Yet amid growing complexity, a critical question persists - who is ultimately accountable for navigating this convergence, and how can they meet these broad obligations efficiently and cost effectively?

The compliance conundrum facing gambling operators

In its latest annual report, the Gambling Commission revealed it is stepping up enforcement action against gambling operators found to have breached conditions relating to AML, social responsibility controls, and customer interaction.

In 2024, gambling operators worldwide faced nearly £70million in financial penalties for AML failings. Specifically, the Commission took action against 8 operators, resulting in over £13.4 million in fines and settlements.

That’s the size of the challenge facing operators - but what about the shape of it?

Successfully balancing AML and player safety is challenging the traditional operating model of operators, one typified by siloed compliance practices and player protection operations. Not only does this make the overlap between AML and safer gambling harder to manage, raising the potential for regulatory penalties, it also damages the player experience.

The player experience problem

As regulatory oversight into AML and safer gambling compliance becomes more stringent, players will inevitably feel the impact of friction.

The siloed approach leads to lengthy identity verification (IDV), affordability assessments, and onboarding checks. This all makes for a frustrating journey - degrading the player experience, driving up player churn, or even worse driving them into the hands of nefarious black-market operators, who care little for safety and protection. It’s by no means an understatement to suggest the growing black market is becoming real threat to legitimate operator profitability.

So, it begs the question - who’s responsible for driving improved cross-functional alignment? And what are the benefits, both for operators and the players they serve?

Who’s responsible?

If compliance teams are focused on AML, financial monitoring and IDV; and player responsibility teams are focussed on safety and experience, then who’s accountable for the bigger picture? Who will bring the silos into alignment?

Without unified ownership, or the processes and mechanisms to drive clarity and alignment, the outcome will always be inconsistent, slow and fraught with risk – audit failures, regulatory penalties and fines, player churn, erosion of brand integrity, and reputational harm.

Shared accountability, clear goals, and integrated workflows are the answer – but how to drive this level of transformation rapidly and cost effectively?

Solving the puzzle: The role of data and technology in removing compliance complexity

The answer isn’t just greater human oversight, its smarter technology innovation. To move beyond compliance bottlenecks, onboarding friction and experience erosion, operators must augment compliance teams with data-orchestration and intelligent workflow automation.

Let’s explore the benefits:

Streamlined technology stack

Break down the silos to assessing risk and safety holistically, and improve total regulatory compliance with a single platform approach. Remove legacy, reduce total cost of ownership, and eliminate fragmentation of experience by unifying AML and safer gambling innovations though a single API access point.

Think KYC, IDV, AML and fraud screening seamlessly integrated to help operators remain compliance, avoid fines and suspensions, offer efficient onboarding of new players, and enhanced safety.  

Data-driven frictionless compliance

Data orchestration is a gamechanger for both AML and safer gambling unification. The ability to dynamically profile customers in terms of risk and affordability, drawing from verified data sources, serves to significantly enhance player lifecycle management.

CCJs, IVA, bankruptcy, debt and credit data, income and affordability verification, plus a range of vulnerability and risk indicators, combined and matched from a wide range of data assets from multiple sources builds a single customer view and clear picture of risk with minimal impact on player experience.

Intelligent automation

When AML compliance and safer gambling tools talk to each other in real time, everything gets easier. Take the complexity out of compliance by replacing manual intervention and disconnected teams with intelligent workflows, and operators gain a single view of risk and affordability whilst eliminating redundancy and human error, reducing regulatory exposure, and improving outcomes for players.

Remain compliant, reduce financial crime, and keep players safe with FullCircl

The intersection of AML and safer gambling is where regulators are focussing, customers are feeling the impact, and leading operators are creating competitive advantage.

Let’s together reimagine what smarter, safer gambling looks like.

FullCircl is used by some of the biggest gambling operators, including Entain, Novibet, and Fitzdares, helping balance revenue generation and regulatory compliance with enhanced player safety. Get in touch with a member of our team to:

• Explore cutting-edge tools for seamless customer onboarding and enhanced regulatory compliance
• Stay ahead of regulations and remove player friction with our new financial vulnerability checks
• Understand how you can harness data orchestration to reduce risk and improve efficiency