The National Council on Problem Gambling Introduces New Guidelines to Payment Providers

The National Council on Problem Gambling (NG) went public with a set of guidelines for payment providers. Advocating a consumer-centric approach, these rules aim to emphasize player control, information and shared responsibility.

As money represents “the lifeblood of gambling,” transferring rapidly through multiple channels in this ecosystem, payment processors can play a critical role in reducing gambling-caused issues. For companies that make profits from gambling, additional measures to reduce harms represent the essence of corporate social responsibility and sound business practice.

Promoting Consumer-Centric Approach

The newly-introduced NG’s Guidelines for Payments Processing should motivate all companies involved in the industry to brainstorm as many as possible solutions for this growing problem.

Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling commented on the measures as follows:

“Payment limits can be an important responsible gambling tool, offering a consumer-centric approach that emphasizes player control, information, and shared responsibility.”

Additional recommendations featured in the complete Guidelines…

…encom specific items on multiple topics such as limits, Know Your Customer (KYC), access by players to information about and in their s and transaction history, self-exclusion, and research.

The majority of them were initially set out in NG’s Internet Responsible Gambling Standards, but this new set of rules are intended to apply broadly to all forms of gambling and guide stakeholders across the industry.

Whyte added:

“Our guidelines are based on an informed consumer choice model and can help payment processors play an important role in reducing gambling addiction.”

The Council is open for on these guidelines, expecting institutions to continue to refine and adjust these recommendations, making them even more efficient.

Enhancing Protection on Multiple Fields

Financial institutions and other third-party companies that process payments can play a crucial role in minimizing the negative consequences associated with gambling. Among the most severe of them are include debt, bankruptcy, broken relationships, homelessness, or even suicide.

Each transaction method used for gambling, from cash to credit cards to PayPal…

…can impact how quickly and easily individuals may access and gain more money. The rapid expansion of e-wallets, along with the availability of on-demand access to digital payments, could increase the number of consumers willing to spend more or gamble beyond their means.

The new systems, among all, shift more risk to players and remove protective factors, such as the need to pause the game to replenish cash. However, innovative technologies can also be part of the solution, by enabling individuals to set responsible limits per individual judgment.

Among the suggested measures, NG advised stakeholders to:

• encourage individuals who gamble to establish their limits of time and money
• utilize personalized responsible gambling messages
• allow punters to self-exclude from gambling platforms and venues, and synchronize their exclusions with the venue and state exclusion lists
• research signals of problematic play
• utilize the collected payments data to supervise the performance
• develop models to help predict and prevent excessive usage

Even though the United Kingdom prohibited the use of credit cards for gambling, some states in the US where gambling is approved allow credit cards for this activity.

Source:

“Payment Processors Have a Role in Reducing Gambling Harms”, ngambling.org, February 3, 2020.