The Behavioural Insights Team of GambleAware has linked with some British banks in order to inform customers about the prevention of gambling-related harm and treatment strategies. After analysing behavioural data from customers of Monzo and HSBC, the UK gambling charity organisation has published a guide for other entities offering financial services that are looking to help vulnerable customers.
GambleAware revealed it has analysed behavioural data from 1.5 million customers of HSBC and 10,000 customers of Monzo in order to explore whether the two financial services providers can provide a better understanding of a customer’s well-being, more information about a gambler’s profile or some insights of the use of gambling blocking tools.
As the largest British gambling charity announced, the reports on bank transaction data are being published along with a new practical guide for financial services aimed at helping firms and authorities prevent financial harm that is associated with gambling.
The last few years have seen a number of UK banks, including Monzo, Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group and Starling, introduce so-called “gambling blocks” that have been offered to customers who want to prevent making payments with their bank cards at retail and online gambling venues. Despite these measures, gambling has remained a major social and mental health issue, so GambleAware has been working with the Personal Finance Research Centre of the Bristol University to explore what other measures could be taken by banks in order to help their vulnerable customers.
UK Gambling Charity’s New Practical Guide Suggests Ways to Tackle Gambling Harm
The new practical guide for banks provided by GambleAware offers financial service providers some real-life examples of what they can actually do in order to identify and support consumers who are exposed to the risk of facing financial problems associated with gambling. The guide also highlights how important it is for banks and other financial organisations to be proactive in analysing customer transaction data to trace some behavioural signs and spending patterns.
As GambleAware revealed, the researchers used and analysed transactional data of 10,000 Monzo customers. For players who were Monzo customers and used the bank’s gambling blocker tool, their daily gambling expenditures tripled in the week before gamblers activated the transaction block. Furthermore, gamblers among Monzo customers were found to have less money on average in their bank internal saving accounts in comparison to the ones who do not gamble.
A total of 1.5 million HSBC customers took part in the research. As GambleAware revealed in its report, gamblers categorised as “very concerning” by HSBC had an average of 35.6 gambling transactions on monthly basis. In comparison, the ones tagged as “concerning” had an average of 15.6 gambling transactions per month, while the ones included in the control group, had only 1.2 transactions monthly.
Monzo and HSBC have been among the first financial service providers in the UK who started offering gambling block options to their customers as part of their efforts to help the UK Government, regulators and anti-gambling campaigners tackle the possible negative effects of gambling, including increasing financial debt.
- Author
Olivia Cole
