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New charity program to help banks settle gambling issues
The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, the leading center of expertise on money and mental health problems, has introduced a new program in the UK aimed at helping banks assist customers with gambling-related harms.
Founded by Martin Lewis, The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute’s new program named “The Gambling Harms Action Lab” was approved and funded by the UK’s Gambling Commission. The program will run for 3 years and will partner with five to seven financial services providers for more than 18 months to develop tools and strategies for improving customer support, with input from individuals with lived experience of gambling harms.
This initiative will help banks meet the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty, which emphasizes customer-focused banking. Nationwide Building Society is the first to join the program.
Head of Customer Vulnerability at Nationwide Building Society, Kathryn Townsend, commented:
“Greater collaboration is essential if we are to truly tackle financial harm caused by excessive or problem gambling. Nationwide, head of customer vulnerability and accessibility. 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.”
Chief executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, Helen Undy, said:
“Gambling problems can cause catastrophic harms for those affected by them. 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. 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.”
Earlier, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute published research on gambling-related harms, revealing a significant gap between the number of people needing support for gambling issues and those accessing it.
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