Seven firms have joined our Gambling Harms Action Lab - what’s next?

We’re delighted to be able to announce the full membership of our Gambling Harms Action Lab. The seven firms – Barclays, first direct, HSBC UK, Nationwide, Monzo, Starling and Virgin Money – have committed to an 18-month period of collaboration to find ways to develop and improve their tools or processes to support customers at risk of or experiencing gambling harms. 

When the team came up with the concept for the Gambling Harms Action Lab, it was clear that one critical aspect was ensuring that financial services firms wanted to commit to this programme. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible to deliver our objectives of improving existing support and developing new tools to address gambling harm. This is a moment to celebrate this milestone.

The 2023 Gambling Survey for Great Britain found that 2.5% of those surveyed were experiencing problem gambling, while a further 3.7% of those surveyed were at moderate risk and 8.3% were at low risk of problem gambling. The same survey found that nearly six in ten (58%) of those surveyed who were experiencing problem gambling had not accessed any form of support services in the previous 12 months. 

When someone is experiencing gambling harm, often only the person themselves, gambling operators and current account providers have a first hand insight of the scale of harm occurring. Financial services firms have a unique lens and insight that can help bridge this gap in accessing vital support.

We’re now entering into the core period of our programme. The seven firms will meet regularly for an 18-month period, beginning later this month. They’ll come together every six weeks through a series of Action Learning Sets – where they’ll discuss common challenges and support one another to find a way forward. We’ll work closely with these firms over the next year and a half to improve the support they offer for people experiencing gambling harm. At the end of this period, we’ll share the improvements firms have made as examples of best practice and raise the standard across the sector.

We know that current account providers have information at their fingertips about the types of harm people are experiencing. The Gambling Harms Action Lab will not be prescriptive – we want to hear firsthand from the experts at these firms about the scale of their ambitions and support them to deliver on this, as they often know the opportunities for addressing these issues better than we do. 

Each firm has committed to working collaboratively, learning from each other and pushing each other forward throughout this process.

All this work will be underpinned by our Research Community of experts by experience. Here at Money and Mental Health, the people in our Research Community are at the heart of everything we do. 

We have a strong (and growing) panel of lived experience experts with experience of gambling harms, whose views will help us at every stage of the process – supporting on the direction of travel, identifying gaps or potential improvements in existing support available, and providing invaluable insight into what they want to see from the new or improved tools that will be built during this process. 

If you want to be a part of this change, you can join our Research Community here.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty requires firms to do more to prevent foreseeable harm. We can see when someone is experiencing financial difficulties as a result of gambling. For example, current account providers often have sight of when someone is gambling beyond their means and struggling to pay for essentials. 

The 2023 Gambling Survey for Great Britain also found that over three in four (75.8%) of those surveyed who were experiencing problem gambling had used borrowed money or savings to gamble. Firms can see this activity and offer proactive advice and support in order to try and limit or prevent further financial harm. 

As Tim Miller, Executive Director of the Gambling Commission, said to financial services providers in the room back at our launch in November, “you may not be the cause of gambling harms but you have an amazing opportunity to be part of the solution.” Now the Gambling Harms Action Lab’s work begins in earnest, and we’ll have the time to deliver on that opportunity together.