Gambling Commission of GB Invites Finance Industry to Contribute to Reducing Gambling-Related Harms

Neil McArthur, the chief executive of Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has invited the finance industry to become associates in a multi-sector partnership approach whose main aim is tackling gambling-related harms. Having in mind the current situations, more stringent measures are needed to reduce problems and help people behave responsibly.

During his keynote speech at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute’s virtual conference for financial service professionals, McArthur stressed out the vital role of the finance sector in handling this issue.

McArthur commented as follows:

“We all have a part to play to protect vulnerable consumers. The Gambling Commission has already banned gambling with credit cards, as evidence showed that it would reduce the risk of gambling harm to consumers. That was an important step, but there is always more that can be done.”

Crucial Role of the Financial Sector

Funding for the program was made possible through a regulatory settlement greenlighted by the Commission following an enforcement case.

McArthur also stressed out:

“The financial sector has an important role to play. We have already seen the introduction by banks of gambling blocking software, together with the use of data to customers affected by problem gambling. Today’s event was an important opportunity for colleagues to look at how we can make gambling safer and I welcomed the opportunity to share our plans and priorities with professionals from across the finance sector.”

Held as virtual even this year…

…the conference put a special focus on the contributions and efforts of the financial sector in recent years. The innovations this sector came up with significantly contributed to better protection of consumers.

Among the introduced solutions, there are various gambling blocking services, which aim to prevent a consumer’s bank or debit card from being used for gambling transactions. In addition to this, they keep investigating how further this can progress and which other innovation can be made to make these leisure-time activities even safer.

Katie Alpin, Interim Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, is positive that this will stimulate companies from the sector to come up with more new tools and suggestions to assist those experiencing gambling problems.

Sharing the impressions, Alpin announced as follows:

“In recent years we’ve seen the financial services industry play an increasingly important role in ing people affected by gambling problems – from the introduction of gambling blocks to new advances in using customer data to identify and help those who are struggling.”

The way she sees it, this could make a big difference to the two million adults across Britain whose gambling habits may be having a harmful effect both on their financial and mental wellbeing.

More Efforts in the Field of Customer Protection

Among the recent activities which aim to level up player protection, there’s also UKGC’s cooperation with the biggest social network Facebook. As far as agreed, two of them will come up with comprehensive guidance which will decrease the amount of gambling-related ads Fb s are shown.

Also, the regulator came up with a new set of measures for VIP customers. Operators will be required to establish a clear code of conduct, and stick to it, without promoting these schemes irresponsibly.

Source:

“Gambling Commission calls for more action from the financial sector to help tackle gambling harm”, gamblingcommission.gov.uk, October 13, 2020.