Martin Lewis charity launches programme to help banks tackle gambling harms

Funded by a regulatory settlement approved by the Gambling Commission, the Gambling Harms Action Lab will run for three years. The programme will work with current account providers to develop and implement new tools to address gambling harms.

The Gambling Harms Action Lab will bring together a group of five to seven financial services companies for 18 months. Through this, the group will explore and address the common challenges to improving support for people.

Focus areas will include new tools and interventions aimed at improving outcomes, supported by the charity’s Research Community. This includes those with lived experience of mental health issues and gambling harms.

These efforts, the charity said, will help banks meet their requirements under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty. Introduced last year, this requires banks and other financial institutions to take a more consumer-centric approach to banking.

Building society Nationwide is the first financial services provider to commit to the scheme.

“Greater collaboration is essential if we are to truly tackle financial harm caused by excessive or problem gambling,” Nationwide’s head of customer vulnerability and accessibility, Kathryn Townsend, said. “It’s great to see the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute leading the charge on this.

“We are delighted to be the first financial services organisation to sign up to it. We look forward to working alongside them and the wider industry to make a positive difference to people’s finances, relationships and mental health.”

Current account providers should take more action over gambling harm

Alongside the new scheme, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute has also released research into gambling harms. This specifically looks at the role current account providers have to play in helping protect consumers.

The research identified a “huge” gap between the number of people in need of support for gambling harms and the number of people regularly accessing these services. It also found under the Consumer Duty framework that there is more action providers can and should be taking to address gambling harms.

Money and Mental Health Policy Institute chief executive Helen Undy emphases the need for action. She said the new scheme will allow providers to improve their own systems and tools to help consumers.

“Gambling problems can cause catastrophic harms for those affected by them,” Undy said. “Financial services are in a unique position to help. It’s been great to see the progress made in recent years – particularly with the introductions of gambling blocking tools, which almost every current account provider now offers.”

But with more to be done, working with banks and other financial service providers to share ideas and overcome common challenges would help drive best practice across the sector, she continued.

“The Gambling Harms Action Lab is an important opportunity for firms to help drive that progress, no matter how advanced they are or otherwise in this work.”