All gambling operators in the UK will soon have to prompt first-time depositors on their platforms to set a deposit limit.

New rules outlined by the regulator, the Gambling Commission, will mandate brands to “make it easy” for players to review and subsequently alter their limit.

The regulations, entering into force from October 31 this year, will expand on the practices many operators have already rolled out.

Every six months, operators must remind consumers to review their account and transactions which the Commission said will “help consumers consider if they want to change existing, or set new, deposit limits.”

The regulator said it will soon launch a “supplementary” consultation to improve consistency and transparency for consumers on how financial limits work.

This will come due to the “confusion” that could arise from the changes by some operators on how deposit limits are offered that the Commission said it has recognised.

In a further change to the UKGC’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), operators must set out in terms and conditions whether customer’s funds are protected if the brand goes bust, as well as outlining the level of such protection and how this protection is achieved.

This information must be available when customers first deposit funds and the level of protection must be described as either “not protected – no segregation,” “not protected – segregation of customer funds,” “medium protection” or “high protection.”

Operators whose customer funds are not protected must remind players of that fact every six months, the regulator said.

“Whilst there is no legal duty on gambling operators to protect customers funds in the event of insolvency, many of them do so voluntarily,” it added.

“The changes will help consumers understand which operators protect their funds and which do not – information which will support them in making choices about who they gamble with.”

Tim Miller, Commission executive director for research and policy, said: “These changes illustrate our commitment to ensuring gambling is fair and open by improving consumer empowerment and choice.

“These changes will help consumers decide on deposit limits, enable them to keep track of their spending and ensure they are fully aware of what happens to their funds should an operator become insolvent.

“We will now continue our work to deliver our remaining white paper commitments, including our programme of evaluation.”

Elsewhere, to make way for the UK statutory levy on gambling operators expected to come into force in April, the current LCCP requirement for brands to contribute to research, prevention and treatment of gambling harms will be removed.

“We will notify licensees of the date of implementation as soon as the parliamentary process is complete,” the Gambling Commission said.