GamCare highlights how banks in the United Kingdom can protect their customers from experiencing harm from gambling.
The gambling support charity recently ran a workshop with experts from across the financial services sector, following a previous session. Created in 2019, GamCare’s Gambling Related Financial Harm Project is a cross-sector initiative. It shares knowledge, develops resources, and helps firms support customers affected by gambling harm.
Raminta Diliso, Financial Harm Manager at GamCare, noted that last year, 72% of people who contacted the National Gambling Helpline disclosed financial difficulties. Banks are well-positioned to detect harmful and unaffordable gambling through bank statements and transactional data. This allows them to offer more targeted support to their customers.
She added that they hope more financial services firms will take a proactive approach. They also hope these firms will put the right steps in place to support customers experiencing financial difficulties related to gambling.
The workshop brought together over 70 representatives from financial services, the debt advice sector, and gambling support services.
The charity learned about new ways in which some banks are taking a more proactive role in protecting their customers.
Moreover, participants heard from a speaker from Santander on how the bank was engaging with customers who were potentially at-risk.
This includes better tools to review levels of gambling spend, more frequent push notifications about the support tools available, as well as signposting to support services after customers had spent large sums of money gambling in a 24-hour period.
The charity recommended steps that banks can take to support those impacted by gambling following the session. This includes analyzing transactional data from customers to identify potential issues with gambling.
Stander’s Vulnerable Customers Strategy Manager, Graeme Cunning concluded that at Stander, they believe that the bank, although not responsible, does have a part to play in gambling harm prevention.
