Better safe than sorry: Leading operators discuss efforts to tackle gambling-related harm

We, as an industry, concluded another Safer Gambling Week last month, not only in the UK but across Europe as well, and from all corners of the sector. Most operators have been setting out what they are doing to help make their casino or sportsbook safe for all players and the interventions in place when they are alerted that a user is at risk of gambling-related harm.

This might sound like everything in the garden is rosy, that we have finally removed the stigma in society around gambling, and that as long as all these measures are in position, then there should be only a small number of people suffering the detrimental mental and physical harms associated with one of the world’s oldest pastimes. However, there is still work to do – and the stats are there to prove it.

Recent UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) data shows that problem gambling rates among young people in the UK have more than tripled in 2022, now sitting at 1.4%. Meanwhile, a study conducted by the charity GambleAware found that the ongoing cost-of-living crisis in the UK could lead to a spike in potential gambling harm among women, as 24% of those surveyed aged 18-49 said they expected to gamble more in the coming months to deal with the crisis. The voluntary self-exclusion service Gamstop saw registrations hit record highs in H1 2022, with 44,000 sign-ups in the first half of the year.

During Safer Gambling Week, the industry spoke about collaboration and coming together to have an open and honest dialogue about how best to move forward in terms of a safer, more responsible gambling environment and eventually breaking the stigma of betting. There are several initiatives currently being implemented by firms to try and curb problem gambling, and while many can be successful, there is still much more that can be done.

The never-ending race to 0%

One initiative that has been publicly spoken about is Kindred Group’s 0% mission. The aim of this initiative is for the operator to generate 0% of its revenue from high-risk gambling by the end of 2023. To achieve this, Kindred recently announced it was partnering with safer gambling solutions provider Gamban to bring its responsible gambling tools to Kindred’s Unibet brand in France. Last month, the operator signed an agreement with former Swedish monopoly operators ATG and Svenska Spel, which will see the trio publish data metrics on problem gambling in Sweden.

Kindred set out on its mission to 0% in Q1 2020, and since then the figure has bounced between 3% and 4% (occasionally edging closer to 5% during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic), with its last recorded reading at 3.8% in Q3 2022, which equates to £10.56m of the firm’s overall gross winnings revenue. From an outside perspective, it may seem like this project has made slow progress in nearly three years, but CEO Henrik Tjärnström always viewed the mission as more of a long-term project than just a target to hit by the end of 2023.

Tjärnström says: “We’re on a long-term journey. We were transparent with that from the outset. We set the original time frame of 2023, and that is what we’re pushing ourselves internally to get as close as we can to within that time frame. But life doesn’t stop at the end of 2023. Of course, we need to continue to work on this and we have put a lot of the fundamentals in place. We have been on a downward journey since last year, but we’re focused on the long term.”

When questioned as to whether setting the goal was overambitious, Tjärnström says he felt it needed to be set out this way, remarking: “It is ambitious, but it needed to be ambitious. Behind every number is an individual that is critical to remember, and we cannot be satisfied with anything but 0%.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Dan Spencer, director of safer gambling at EPIC Risk Management, as he sees no reason why operators shouldn’t set these kinds of goals for themselves. “I see no reason why operators shouldn’t shoot for the stars. And in some regards, those operators of Kindred’s size and others should be positive role models of these behaviours to the rest of their industry.

“Larger operators should be pushing to do much more than the grand majority of the industry and then share the methods of how they got there with the rest of the industry,” he notes.

Forever young

Another more hard-nosed approach to responsible gambling comes from Åland Islands-based operator Paf, which recently brought in a lower mandatory loss limit of €10,000 (£8,608.55) for players aged between 18-24, in addition to the mandatory annual loss limit of €20,000 for older customers.

Paf’s reasoning for introducing this additional limit is because it believes young people are at a higher risk of developing gambling problems. The operator referenced research gathered by the Responsible Gambling Council in Ontario that states players aged between 18 and 20 are significantly more likely to chase their losses and bet more than they could afford in the past. Further research in Ontario by the Gambling Research Exchange in 2021 also found that out of 13,284 European teenagers aged between 14 and 18, 10% had gambled offline in the last year, and 6% had gambled online, with more males than females saying they had gambled.

Ludvig Winberg, corporate communications manager at Paf, added that the move is part of Paf’s wider strategy for this age group. “We have been looking for some time at what good we can do for younger people in the gaming industry so we can put in measures to better protect them,” he states.

“We check customers in the younger age groups more carefully. We are also avoiding advertising in areas that appeal more to young people, with more direct marketing at older age groups.”

In Winberg’s opinion, this move is not where loss limits should end; he believes they should be taken to a national level. “From our side, we would love to see national loss limits across regulated markets that are the same for every company. We believe that would really help all the customers out there.”

However, does placing such limits risk pushing punters down the road of playing with black-market operators? Winberg responds: “I mean there is always a risk, but if the regulator puts the right measures in place then it could work. I believe a national loss limit would respect the licensed companies more, if they know they cannot lose life-changing amounts of money.”

This loss limit introduced by Paf isn’t the only one of its kind imposed on young people. Flutter introduced a £500 monthly limit for under-25s in September last year. The operator said at the time that the limit was based on a recognition that early adulthood is characterised by a range of major life changes. It aims to bring its operations in line with businesses in other sectors that recognise this, similar to how finance and car insurance companies recognise younger customers have a higher-risk profile.

The reason loss limits on younger people is not a responsible gambling policy echoed throughout the industry is due to the different approaches operators are taking to help those most at risk.

Betsson has shied away from putting a blanket limit on a specific group of people and instead looks at each customer individually. During an interview with EGR Intel in Amsterdam last month, Betsson AB CEO Pontus Lindwall said: “I think the best way to do things is to look at players individually. For example, there are players under 25 who can spend the kind of money that those over 25 can’t. So, these limits are a little bit of a rough tool when used in this way.

“We do understand that those under 25 may be more vulnerable, and it does go into our predictions to work out which customers are in need of support.”

The general consensus among operators, no matter the market, is that young people aged between 18 and 25 are at a higher risk of suffering gambling-related harm. This thought process has been backed up by scientific research, and the UKGC data also shows that problem gambling among young people is at its worst-ever level, but could marginalising this group of people who are in the early stages of gambling be to the detriment of the industry later down the line?

Spencer feels that while having this limit may be a good thing, it should be combined with education. He maintains that operators should provide the tools to young people to show them the potential harm that gambling can cause, and, as a recovering gambling addict himself, believes this would have sent him down a different pathway.

He remarks: “If we believe these limits are a player protection method, then the trick is to educate the player into seeing it that way. If a player does resent an operator for doing it, then they will go to the black market, which means the industry has failed that player in terms of education. When I signed up for my first account on my 18th birthday, in my opinion it was the best time to have an interaction with me because I then went on to have 16 years of gambling-related harm and addiction. It was in the later years when interactions had no effect on me, but if some had come to me early on, then things may have been different.”

Into the unknown

The biggest challenge for operators at the moment is the ongoing global economic crisis, and players who may not have gambled previously or gambled excessively may be gambling to extreme levels in the hopes of making ends meet.

This is why an effective responsible gambling policy needs to be in place to protect those who will be feeling the pinch as we head into the darker and colder months of the year.

Winberg believes that, as operators, everyone should be working harder on player protection, especially during a crisis of this magnitude. “Of course, we need to up our game. We have a lot of operators who could do a lot more to improve, especially the larger ones. There are some good initiatives, but there is still a lot to do, and we can do more.

“Then again, we sell entertainment, and I think people are going to want to be entertained in the future as well, even though it’s kind of a hard world that we have to live in every now and then. Entertainment should be the main reason people gamble, but we just need to work hard to make it more responsible.”

As the UK sees inflation hit over 10% and interest rates reach their highest level since the financial crash of 2008 while also rising by their highest amount in over 30 years, the industry must keep updating its policy to match what is happening around the world.

This is a sentiment Lindwall shares: “I think the overarching goals across all markets is that we want to avoid problematic gaming, and there are all kinds of science which show that in each and every market there are problem gamblers, and we need to address this as soon as possible and try and change these behaviours. Every market needs to be approached in a different way, and what we need to do is to address each customer in different ways.”

Working harder

When speaking to those in the industry, there is an air of positivity that significant progress is being made to make gambling safer for everybody. Jenna Ekström, responsible gaming manager at Paf, believes the industry is on the right track but there is still some way to go. “I think we are moving in the right direction, but we are still a long way from being that good [referencing Kindred’s 0% mission]. There is still more we can all do,” she notes.

Winberg reaffirms this message but has hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel. He adds: “We can see a lot of companies now taking it more seriously and discussing it more. However, there is still some shyness in the industry, and I believe that the industry would benefit a lot from more transparency.”

Transparency could be the key to truly delivering lasting change in the industry. A combined effort to raise awareness, share techniques and develop cohesive strategy to deal with problem gambling will benefit both operators and customers. The greater the industry works together, the lower gambling-related harm statistics can be driven down and consumer wellbeing improved.

Spencer believes we are moving in the right direction, especially as someone who has seen first-hand the darkest parts of the industry. He says: “We have come a long way since I started working in the industry. There has been untold amounts of work going on behind the scenes that the industry should be very proud of. There is more being done than people know and the industry should talk about it more.”

As long as those who are suffering don’t feel ashamed to speak up and seek help, and that there are robust resources readily available, the industry can only hope gambling shifts its stereotype from being a benefactor of harm to be considered as a safe and enjoyable source of entertainment.