Banks matter in gambling conversations - how banks can recognise their crucial role with customers

Banks matter in gambling conversations. Financial harm is often the first harm seen before other gambling harms, including relationship, family, and livelihood breakdown. The earliest signs of gambling difficulty could be unusual spending, persistent debt, consistently being in overdraft, or missed bills. As the provider of our everyday financial services, banks can spot warning signs that customers may be struggling and require timely support.

This view is particularly important when so many people are experiencing difficulties and feel unable to reach out for help and support. In this sense, our current account provider is the first line of defence between a customer and wider gambling harms. 

We previously explored what banks can see in their customer transaction data to potentially identify customers. The natural follow-up from banks identifying customers who may be experiencing harm is to consider when and how they can and should communicate to offer support. Banks are actively considering this to help ensure these messages are well-received and land effectively. Here are key insights from our Research Community of people with lived experience of mental health problems and gambling harms, highlighting how they view the role of banks and what banks should keep in mind before reaching out.

Banks can recognise when gambling becomes unaffordable and how it affects our lives. Our current account provider can see when our gambling spend begins to rise or when gambling takes priority over paying essential bills or repayments. This means banks can provide timely alerts and support at the right moments.

Banks are trusted messengers of financial information; research shows that customers have high levels of trust in their day-to-day account provider, with eight in ten people reporting high or moderate levels of trust. A carefully timed and worded message could break through the fog of gambling difficulty in a way that other areas might not.

People who experience gambling difficulties at all levels often feel misunderstood and judged. This is especially difficult for people who experience the toxic cycle of gambling and mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, where the existence of one can fuel the worsening of the other.

• Stigma – The negative attitudes and beliefs that surround gambling difficulty. 
• Shame – This can lead to self-stigma and shame, where people internalise these views. 
• Secrecy – This, in turn, can drive people to secrecy, where people hide their gambling behaviour, deepening isolation, and preventing people from seeking help for gambling and financial difficulty. 

Together, these forces can make it harder for people to respond to support when it is offered. 

Receiving a message from a bank can be difficult, particularly for those with poor mental health, and should always be handled with the utmost care. Whilst banks are well-placed to spot gambling-related financial difficulty, they should consider how customers might receive a message from a bank if they are feeling anxious, particularly if they are in debt or arrears.

Just as we look around and see gambling adverts everywhere, we should look around and see help and support at every turn – banks are a part of this picture. Here, we make six recommendations for how banks can improve their communications to customers:

1. Ensure messaging starts from a place of understanding, not judgement – Evidence from our Research Community found there are nuances to what ‘judgmental’ looks like. A message about ‘control’ or ‘gambling responsibly’ may seem helpful and neutral. However, this may inadvertently be internalised as being ‘out of control’ or ‘irresponsible,’ which can compound feelings of shame. 

2. Be patient – a customer recognising they are struggling is a huge step, which might not happen immediately, but takes time and repeated offers of support, in different ways from multiple sources.

3. Adapt messaging – understanding your customer’s experience will enable you to deliver the message with the right tone at the right moment.

4. Ensure consistency – customers view their bank as a single entity, so banks should ensure all of these considerations are built in across communication channels, including written, phone calls, in-app messaging, and chatbots.

5. Test communications with people with lived experience – messages should be reviewed and refined with input from people with lived experience of gambling and gambling harms.

6. Ensure communications are regularly reviewed and updated – What is considered acceptable language changes over time. Fortunately, the gambling support sector provides language guides to support services to shape their language and tone. 

As part of the Gambling Harms Action Lab, Barclays, first direct, HSBC UK, Monzo, Nationwide, Starling Bank and Virgin Money are innovating to develop new or improved communications to customers at risk of or experiencing gambling harms.

We’re supporting them with insights from our Research Community to develop new approaches to gambling support communications. Read more here about what they are doing as part of their participation in the Gambling Harms Action Lab.