Gamstop

What Gamstop does

Gamstop is the UK's national online self-exclusion scheme, operated by The National Online Self Exclusion Scheme Limited, a not-for-profit private limited company headquartered in Harrogate and governed through its parent entity Gamstop Group. The platform enables UK residents to voluntarily block themselves from accessing online gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain for chosen periods of 6 months, 1 year, or 5 years (with an optional auto-renewal feature), and is extended to high street bookmakers through the acquired Gamstop Betting Shops subsidiary. Its core technology is a centralised self-exclusion register that licensed gambling operators query via integration to check whether an individual attempting to register or log in has opted out; identity verification is delivered through third-party providers TransUnion (knowledge-based authentication) and Onfido (facial recognition biometrics).

The service is provided free of charge to consumers and is funded by the UK-licensed gambling industry, with participation in Gamstop being a mandatory condition of Gambling Commission licences since 31 March 2020. Gamstop's go-to-market is primarily product-led and community-led: users self-register through the website or contact centre, with awareness driven by social media, football-club partnerships (e.g., Crystal Palace, Harrogate Town), student outreach with Ygam, and lived-experience storytelling. Distribution to operators is regulatory rather than commercial: all licensed operators must integrate with the scheme and run daily and per-login checks. Complementary support is delivered via the TalkBanStop partnership with GamCare and Gamban, alongside signposting to bank blocks, device-level blocking software, and the National Gambling Helpline.

Name

Gamstop

Legal name

The National Online Self Exclusion Scheme Limited

Website

https://gamstop.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Gamstop is the UK's national non-profit online self-exclusion scheme, enabling UK residents to voluntarily block themselves from online gambling sites and apps licensed in Great Britain, funded by regulatory requirements on licensed gambling operators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Gambling Self-Exclusion Services

akta.pro primary industry

KYC/Identity Verification & Age Verification Compliance Services (MPAEAOAF)

Keywords

• Online self-exclusion
• Gambling harm prevention
• Responsible gambling tools
• Self-exclusion scheme
• Gambling addiction support

Headquarters

HQ city

Harrogate

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Not-for-profit service: Gamstop is a not-for-profit organisation. The service is free for consumers to use. Revenue is not generated from consumers but rather the scheme is funded as a regulatory requirement for gambling operators licensed in Great Britain.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Gamstop (legally 'The National Online Self Exclusion Scheme Limited') is a UK not-for-profit that operates a free national online self-exclusion scheme, blocking registered UK residents from creating or using accounts with online gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain. Users can self-exclude for 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, or 5 years with auto-renewal, with identity verified via TransUnion or Onfido. The sibling service, Gamstop Betting Shops (formerly MOSES), extends self-exclusion to high-street bookmakers via a single phone registration.

Product overview

Gamstop operates as a unified self-exclusion platform for UK residents struggling with gambling addiction, consisting of Gamstop Online as the core product and Gamstop Betting Shops as a complementary service. Gamstop Online blocks users from online gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain through an operator-matching system, while Gamstop Betting Shops provides telephone-based exclusion from high street bookmakers. The service is free, requires identity verification via TransUnion or Onfido, and allows users to choose exclusion periods from 6 months up to 5 years with an auto-renewal option. Integration with the National Gambling Helpline and third-party blocking software (Gamban, Betblocker) provides additional support layers. Gamstop Group, formed in May 2023, serves as the parent company for both services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gamstop Betting Shops: Self-exclusion scheme for high street bookmakers, formerly known as MOSES (Multi Operator Self Exclusion Scheme).
• TalkBanStop

Products and services

• Gamstop Online Free national online self-exclusion service for UK residents that blocks users from accessing online gambling websites and apps licensed in Great Britain. Users choose exclusion periods of 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, or 5 years with auto-renewal; identity is verified via TransUnion or Onfido before the block takes effect (up to 24 hours) and all UK-licensed online operators are required to consult the register during login and registration.
• Gamstop Betting Shops Free telephone-based self-exclusion service enabling UK residents to block themselves from high street bookmakers via a single phone registration (0800 294 2060). Originally founded in 2016 as MOSES and now operating as the land-based complement to Gamstop Online under Gamstop Group.

Quantifiable outcome

• 74% satisfaction rate
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• YgamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGamstop and Ygam have partnered for five consecutive years to conduct the Annual Student Gambling Survey, gathering insights from 2,000 UK university students annually. This partnership produces research on student gambling behavior, harm levels, and awareness of support services. The collaboration also includes a five-year trend analysis covering over 10,000 students.
• GamCarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGamstop partnered with GamCare and Gamban in December 2020 to launch the TalkBanStop campaign, promoting a layered approach to gambling harm reduction. The campaign combines talking via the National Gambling Helpline, banning access via Gamban software, and stopping online gambling through Gamstop registration.
• GambancoreTechnology or IntegrationGamban is featured as part of the TalkBanStop campaign, providing free gambling blocking software for phones, tablets, and computers. Available free for UK residents as an additional layer of protection alongside Gamstop registration.
• TransUnioncoreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party identity verification provider used during Gamstop registration. Provides a series of questions only the registrant should know the answers to for identity verification purposes.
• OnfidocoreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party identity verification provider using facial recognition technology to compare user photos with official photographic ID documents. An Entrust Company.
• Football Clubs (Crystal Palace, Harrogate Town)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFootball clubs participate in Self-Exclusion Day campaigns by sharing Gamstop assets on social media and at home games, helping raise awareness among their supporters.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Gamban: Free device-level gambling blocking software available to UK residents. Direct peer within the TalkBanStop layered-harm-prevention stack, addressing the same problem (blocking access to gambling) via a complementary mechanism (device blocking vs operator matching).
• GamCare: UK gambling harm support charity and TalkBanStop co-partner. Provides the National Gambling Helpline, advisory and treatment services that complement Gamstop's self-exclusion mechanism for the same UK problem-gambling population.
• BetBlocker: Free multi-device gambling blocking software, recommended alongside Gamban on Gamstop's support page. Direct peer providing alternative blocking technology for the same at-risk UK user base.
• Gordon Moody: UK charity delivering residential and online gambling addiction treatment programmes. Peer in the broader UK gambling-harm-prevention ecosystem, serving the same population of problem gamblers.
• Ygam: UK charity focused on preventing gambling-related harm among young people. Five-year research partner of Gamstop (Annual Student Gambling Survey), addressing the same youth gambling-harm segment.
• Gamblers Anonymous UK: UK fellowship providing peer support for problem gamblers, often recommended alongside Gamstop registration. Peer in the UK gambling-harm ecosystem addressing the same user population via a different modality (peer support vs digital self-exclusion).

Regional players

• National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG): US national body that operates the National Problem Gambling Helpline and supports state-level self-exclusion. Comparable mandate to Gamstop at a US level, but operates across multiple state programs rather than a single national system.
• Spelpaus (Swedish Gambling Authority self-exclusion): Sweden's national self-exclusion register operated by Spelinspektionen. Closest international analogue to Gamstop, providing mandatory single-registration self-exclusion for all Swedish-licensed operators.
• Responsible Gambling Council: Canadian independent non-profit dedicated to problem gambling prevention. Operates PlaySmart and My PlayBreak self-exclusion tools, comparable to Gamstop's prevention and self-exclusion mandate but in Canada.

Broad incumbents

• BeGambleAware: UK-wide gambling-harm information and education charity funded by the gambling industry. Operates broader harm-prevention and signposting services that incorporate Gamstop as a referral tool, making it a broad incumbent in the same UK gambling-harm space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gamstopuk1
• Facebookfacebook.com/GamstopUK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gamstop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gamstop