British Gambling Commission pushes for financial institutions to help tackle problem gambling

The new Gambling Harms Action Lab aims to shape the role of financial services in identifying and responding to gambling harm.

UK.- The British Gambling Commission has launched its Gambling Harms Action Lab (GHAL). Proposed back in 2019 as part of its National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, the new initiative aims to shape how financial institutions can help address problem gambling.

Speaking at the lauch Tim Miller, executive director of the Gambling Commission, said financial services providers could collaborate with the gambling sector and play a key role in achieving a more holistic response to gambling harm.

“You need a range of perspectives to truly understand the complexities of gambling harms,” he said. “Financial services providing access to their anonymised consumer data has allowed us to work with Warwick Business School to start building that much richer understanding of how harms develop and how they can be addressed.

“Money and Mental Health have already played a vital role in helping to encourage the involvement of the financial services industry in this vital area of consumer protection work. The Gambling Harms Action Lab will help to bring some structure and focus to those collaborative efforts. And that focus will be important.”

Over the next three years, the GHAL aims to give structure to how the financial sector helps tackle problem gambling. That will include meetings with people with lived experiences of problem gambling to develop strategies.

Miller said: “To those in the room today that are from the financial sector my message to you is, you may not be the cause of gambling harm but you have an amazing opportunity to be part of the solution. To work collaboratively to find creative ways of better protecting gambling consumers, consumers who are also your customers. So please, do not miss your chance to help make gambling safer.”

This week’s launch of the GHAL came after the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI), a charity established by MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis, proposed that UK banks should play a greater role in tackling gambling harm. Its new policy paper says financial institutions could help fill gaps in support.

The paper examines gambling harms in Britain and the role of current account providers. It notes that banks and financial institutions have “unique visibility” of their customers’ spending habits, which could enable them to identify and intervene in cases of potentially harmful gambling behaviour. The charity suggests this could help in cases where customers hide their problems due to stigma.