Stronger together: how GAMSTOP has teamed up with RG partners to protect at-risk players

The UK’s national self-exclusion scheme, GAMSTOP, reported record registrations in February as overall sign-ups surpassed the 200,000 mark for the very first time. GAMSTOP went live in April 2018 and then became a licensing condition for UK-licensed operators from March 2020. On 22 February 2021, 326 registrations were recorded, the highest daily figure since its creation. Since then, GAMSTOP CEO Fiona Palmer has said the scheme remains on a “steady trajectory” and is witnessing 220 new sign-ups per day on average. So, what is behind the rise? The most obvious answer is a general upturn in online gambling participation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. There are several drivers of this, including people seeking digital entertainment online while not being allowed out, and a migration of retail gamblers online while betting shops and land-based casinos were forced to close. Further proof of a rise in online gambling participation was reflected in the financial results of the UK’s leading operators and affiliates, the vast majority of which have posted double-digit digital growth in back-to-back quarters. But has this rise in participation also led to an upturn in gambling-related harm? Nobody is sure. “We don’t know for certain because we don’t ask people why they’re registering,” says Palmer. “The most important thing is that they take that step if they want to.” Meanwhile, Matt Zarb-Cousin of Clean Up Gambling adds: “Online gambling has picked up the slack and some of the more addictive products have increased quite significantly like slots.” Zarb-Cousin runs the not-for-profit campaign managed by AMZC and is also director of external affairs at Gamban. He says: “It’s difficult to make empirical inferences from that, but I think what’s clear is that there is definitely more awareness of the help and support currently available.” GAMSTOP has been seeking to raise awareness of self-exclusion among the UK’s at-risk gambling community and its increased profile is the main driver for the rise in registrations, according to Palmer, who thinks much of it comes down to people using the service and then speaking more openly and freely about their experiences. Stacey Goodwin for example, who at her lowest point lost £50,000 in six days and attempted to take her own life, is now using social media to help raise awareness, particularly among the female gambling community as she feels women suffer in silence. Goodwin, who started working in a betting shop at 18 and is now 28, has set up a TikTok account called The Girl Gambler. “We are keeping an eye on social media where Stacey has started and she’s got a fantastic TikTok channel,” says Palmer. “It is about reaching out to new areas and new audiences and raising awareness while trying to help remove the stigma associated with issues around gambling.” Another vocal proponent of self-exclusion is Matt Blanks, a project manager at Peer Aid, which helps people addicted to gambling. He is active on Twitter and has previously said of self-exclusion: “It gives you that moment’s pause, that bit of breathing space, to ensure that when you have an urge or impulse, you can’t place a bet in that moment. That time to reflect can make all the difference.”

A layered approach

While self-exclusion is proving an increasingly popular and effective tool available to those dealing with gambling addiction, it is by no means a silver bullet, and a multi-faceted strategy works best in so far as understanding and combatting harmful behaviours. This is why the TalkBanStop pilot was born in the UK. TalkBanStop combines GAMSTOP with gambling blocking software tool Gamban and GamCare, which powers the UK’s National Gambling Helpline. The one-year pilot, which began in December 2020, is being evaluated by Ipsos Mori and has so far been embraced by leading UK-licensed operators including Kindred Group. Effectively, it’s a three-way partnership that combines practical tools with support to help anybody who wants to stop or reduce their online gambling activity. “We have what is called a ‘no wrong door’ policy,” GAMSTOP’s Palmer tells EGR. “Anybody who comes to us will be signposted to the National Gambling Helpline, where they will also be offered free licences for Gamban to download blocking software onto their devices. There is also an opportunity to make people aware that they can block financial transactions through their banks.” Gamban linked up with TalkBanStop to make the service free for those in need. Originally, consumers would pay £24.99 for a one-year licence from Gamban, which blocks access to gambling websites on all devices, including the black market. After joining forces with GamCare and GAMSTOP, the Gambling Commission (UKGC) provided funding from enforcement settlements against operators to make the technology readily available to consumers free-of-charge. “This layered approach means that it’s more difficult for an individual that self excludes to bypass the obstacles that are put in place to gamble,” says Zarb-Cousin, himself a former gambling addict. “When someone wants to self-exclude, they are in a teachable moment as they are willing to take positive action to try to prevent the harm that they’ve just experienced from happening again. In that moment, we want as many barriers in place as possible.” The theory with TalkBanStop is that people who put all three of these blocks in place will have better outcomes in combatting gambling addiction and at getting into treatment. Adhering to the three schemes on offer can also help operators get a tighter grip on their compliance procedures. UK-licensed operators are instructed to check their user base against the GAMSTOP self-exclusion register at least once every 24 hours. Few would dispute that Kindred Group is a leader in the responsible gambling space, having agreed to regularly publish its revenue mix generated from harmful gambling behaviour. This figure stood at 3.9% of £352.6m revenue in Q1 and the Stockholm-listed operator has put a 0% target in place by 2023. Addressing self-exclusion of customers, Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström tells EGR: “For certain customers, closure of the account is the best solution but then it needs to be combined with Gamban and other software to make sure the customer is not only stopping at one gambling outlet but is stopping across all platforms.” Tjärnström describes common self-exclusion schemes as only “part of the solution” as the Spelpaus self-exclusion register in Sweden (63,660 self-excluded at the time of writing) has reportedly been easily bypassed by registered users. “There’s a lot of customers that are registered but continue to gamble on offshore sites, so it defeats the purpose,” he says. “If we just have one system, there is a risk that the most vulnerable customers will continue to gamble, only outside of our control.” The Swede is of course referring to the black market, which has been a sore subject for Swedish-licensed operators ever since the market regulated back in 2019. Operator trade body BOS has been a vociferous critic of the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) on this topic and The Swedish Agency for Public Management suggested that online casino channelisation to the licensed market was as low as 75% as of April 2021. The major difference between Spelpaus and GAMSTOP is that Spelpaus is powered by the SGA whereas GAMSTOP is a not-for-profit company entirely independent from the UKGC. “We’ve taken a lot of time to retain that independence,” says Palmer. “We’ve worked with the industry to ensure that the technology works for them because it has to work in order to afford the greatest protection for registered users of the service.” She adds: “But that does not mean the industry tells us what to do, not at all. We work with them, but we have a one-size-fits-all approach so that it has to be the same integration and no operators are treated differently.” Channelisation is not a major issue in the UK, although the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has previously warned that draconian limits on gambling spend could force consumers into an unprotected offshore environment. Palmer did reveal that GAMSTOP raised this as a legitimate concern in its response to the UKGC’s consultation on the Gambling Act 2005 review. In January for example, 49,328 self-excluded individuals out of a possible 177,038 attempted to gamble but were successfully blocked by GAMSTOP. “What we would like is that the regulator has the relevant powers to be able to take the necessary action,” says Palmer, who recalls harmful adverts from unlicensed firms and their affiliate partners during the first Covid-19 lockdown that encouraged players to sign-up with sites “not on GAMSTOP”. Many have campaigned for the UKGC to be given greater responsibility and funding to tackle offshore operators, and Zarb-Cousin is in that camp, although he believes it is irrational for someone to want to gamble on an unlicensed site as there is no guarantee on getting paid. “The risk is heightened for people who are addicted,” he says.

On the block

If TalkBanStop were to have a fourth prong, it would likely concern the role of the banks. HSBC, for example, introduced a spending block for gambling transactions back in 2020. In January of this year, it trebled the cooling-off duration to 72 hours so that consumers had three days to reconsider loosening self-imposed restrictions. “Customer feedback on our gambling control showed there was more we could do to help and we’ve worked closely with them and with GamCare to design the solution,” said HSBC head of financial inclusion and vulnerability Maxine Pritchard at the time. There is definitely more that high street banks could be doing. I would have no idea these tools were readily available were it not for my profession as a gambling industry journalist and I wonder how many at-risk players are also unaware. Ignorance is not bliss in this scenario and it all comes back to raising awareness. While the legacy banks play catch-up, Zarb-Cousin insists that challenger banks like Monzo and Starling deserve huge credit for their work on this topic. “They have done a great job because of their agility and the idea that they are rebuilding retail banking from the ground up to meet the direct and pressing needs of the consumer,” he says, adding that one gambling addict he knew switched to Monzo solely because of its gambling block capability. “Their model is excellent as it’s on the app, it’s clear and they promote it a lot. They have definitely set the benchmark,” he adds. GAMSTOP is doing its bit to raise awareness in 2021, having signed its first ever Premier League partnership with Crystal Palace. It already has deals in place with Middlesbrough and Luton Town. The largest GAMSTOP age group is 18-34, accounting for 59% of all users, of which 71% are male. Football grounds and clubs are therefore a good place to showcase that help is available. However, women also need help with gambling addiction and they now account for more than 50,000 GAMSTOP users. Palmer believes that publishing these statistics helps to remove the stigma associated with gambling addiction in specific communities. “It helps other women feel more comfortable and that it’s okay to talk or that they’re not alone. Many others have sought help and it shows there is a pathway out where they can find treatment and breathing space.” GAMSTOP, GamCare and Gamban all provide that breathing space and become even more effective when operated in tandem as a triple-threat, bolstered further by another layer of protection from the banking sector. They just need to keep on telling that story.