Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller has said banks and financial institutions have an “amazing opportunity” to reduce gambling-related harm in the UK.
Speaking at the launch of the Gambling Harms Action Lab, a new programme led by the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, Miller noted the scheme would be able to cut through “hyperbole” and deliver tangible benefits for consumers.
The Gambling Harms Action Lab will see several UK banks come together with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute to thrash out best practices to protect customers from gambling-related harm.
The regulator’s executive director took the opportunity to highlight how banks had been able to support consumers already, while noting the programme would drive those support services further.
Miller said the introduction of gambling blocks by banks have given customers a “much stronger toolkit of protective measures”.
Online-only banks Monzo and Starling led the way in 2018 with the blocks, before major institutions such as HSBC followed suit.
Additionally, Miller pointed to access of anonymised bank data to help the regulator’s research with Warwick Business School into negative gambling behaviour patterns.
On the Gambling Harms Action Lab, Miller said the programme would “help to bring some structure and focus to those collaborative efforts”.
He added: “The debate around gambling can be notoriously febrile at times, with opinion and hyperbole often distracting from facts and evidence.
“Too often it leaves people arguing over word choice or tone rather than staying on task and working to make things better for consumers.
“As a regulator, and an official statistics body, we are doing all we can to raise the standard of the debate by remaining focussed on the evidence base.
“That is very much what I hope the Action Lab will be able to deliver – using the extensive understanding of consumer behaviours and experiences that financial services have to build an ever-stronger evidence base to identify consumer protections and interventions that actually work.”
Miller concluded his speech by encouraging banks to take the opportunity to work with the Gambling Commission and the Gambling Harms Action Lab.
So far, only Nationwide has publicly signed up to the initiative, with the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute hoping that between five and seven banks will participate.
Miller said: “So 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 harms but you have an amazing opportunity to be part of the solution.
“[And] 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.”
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