Gambling Harms Action Lab Adds 7 Companies in Charity
The Gambling Harms Action Lab has announced that seven current account providers in the UK have signed up for the scheme.
Key Facts:
- Challengers like Monzo and Starling are among new arrivals
- Barclays, First Direct, HSBC UK, Nationwide and Virgin Money have also signed up to the scheme
- The Gambling Harms Action Lab is part of the Money and Mental Health Initiative
- Charity was founded by the TV money expert Martin Lewis
Funded from a regulatory settlement that was approved by the Gambling Commission, the Gambling Harms Action Lab was set up by the Money and Mental Health Initiative.
That UK charity, created by the television finance expert Martin Lewis, is bringing together many of the country’s biggest banking companies to join the scheme.
Challenger banks Monzo and Starling have been included in the Gambling Harms Action Lab along with Barclays, First Direct, HSBC UK, Nationwide and Virgin Money.
What Is The Gambling Harms Action Lab Programme?
The Gambling Harms Action Lab programme will run over 18 months, and it aims to improve financial sector responses to problem gambling in the UK.
Money and Mental Health’s Research Community, which is a group of individuals who have lived experience of gambling harm and mental health challenges, will be heavily involved.Nikki Bond, the head of the Gambling Harms Action Lab at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, stated too many British people are experiencing gambling harm.
In a statement, she said: “Gambling harms can impact all aspects of a person’s life – from people’s relationships to their finances and mental health.”
“It’s vital that we see cross-sector action to find solutions to these problems. So we’re absolutely delighted by the commitment these seven leading financial services firms have demonstrated to better support customers by coming on board to join our Gambling Harms Action Lab programme.”
Bond added that the Gambling Harms Action Lab programme provides a shared space for collaboration, allowing companies to “build on their existing knowledge base and develop improved solutions that work for their customers experiencing gambling harms”.
She said: “Working together, we’ll achieve better protections and a new standard for what good looks like in financial services and gambling harms.”
Gambling Commission Backing
UK regulator, the Gambling Commission, supports the Gambling Harms Action Lab.
Executive director at the body, Tim Miller, said greater sector collaboration is “a key part of creating effective solutions that reduce gambling-related harm”.
He added: “Financial services firms are not the cause of gambling harms, but they have a unique role to play as part of the solution. We are not alone in that thinking – the commitment from current account providers to the Gambling Harms Action Lab is testament to that.”
“We would like to say thank you to firms for agreeing to support this important programme of work.”
The Gambling Commission’s 2023 Gambling Survey for Great Britain found that 2.5% of adults in the UK had experienced problem gambling. A further 12% of the survey’s respondents were judged to be at moderate or low risk.
