GamCare calls for bank collaboration to combat gambling block loopholes
Gambling charity hosts brainstorming workshop with financial services sector to protect at-risk consumers using eWallets and open banking
GamCare has called for a collaborative effort from major banks to close gambling block loopholes that allow potentially at-risk consumers to continue gambling.
The charity held a sector-wide workshop with 45 representatives from the financial services industry taking part, including banks and payments systems, alongside individuals with lived experience of gambling-related harm.
In recent years, many UK banks have rolled out gambling transaction blocks which act as barriers for consumers to gamble online.
These gambling blocks work on card-based deposit transactions that carry a merchant category code which corresponds to gambling operators and were originally supported by challenger bank Monzo.
Banks can then recognise this merchant code and block any transaction.
However, due to the rise in non-card transactions offered by gambling operators, including eWallets and open banking solutions, there are new ways for customers to exploit loopholes in the technology.
EWallets and open banking solutions do not share merchant category codes with banks in the same way card-based transactions do, leaving the gambling blocking software redundant in certain situations.
One of the recommendations to come out of the GamCare workshop was to create a central register containing bank account details associated with gambling operators, which could then be made available to financial services.
Additional recommendations from the workshop included raising awareness regarding the danger of offshore operators, developing a reporting system for when gambling blocking software fails, and the active monitoring of new payment methods which don’t post a merchant category code.
Raminta Diliso, GamCare financial harm manager, said: “For those trying to stop gambling, banking blocks offer an invaluable layer of protection, but people that use our services have reported that they have managed to circumvent the blocks.
“We’re pleased that so many organisations have shown interest in this issue and we would like to see a collaborative cross-sector response to drive through a number of additional changes to further protect people from gambling-related harm,” she added.
A collaborative approach to gambling blocks and self-exclusion provides the best recipe for success, according to GAMSTOP CEO Fiona Palmer, who this week spoke to EGR Intel about TalkBanStop and other initiatives.