Half-day conference aims to help financial services professionals tackle gambling harms

The charity Money and Mental Health has announced a virtual conference for financial services professionals, exploring the exciting opportunities for this sector to help tackle gambling harms.

The free, half-day online conference will take place from 9.30am-1pm on Tues 13 October.

It is aimed at professionals working across the financial services sector, including those specialising in customer vulnerability, product design and public affairs. Attendees can register for the event here. 

The event will explore the exciting innovations in efforts to reduce gambling harms led by the financial service sector in recent years — from the introduction of gambling payment and card blocks, to the use of data to support customers affected by problem gambling.

It will also bring together regulators, politicians and researchers alongside financial service professionals to explore how this work can be driven forward across the industry.

Confirmed speakers will include representatives of a host of leading banks, as well as:

• Neil McArthur, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission

• Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, Founder and Director of the National Problem Gambling Clinic

• Carolyn Harris MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harms.

Katie Alpin, Interim Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:

“Around two million adults in Britain may be experiencing harm from gambling, and that can play havoc with their financial and mental wellbeing, especially during the current crisis.

“In recent years the financial services industry has increasingly been at the forefront of efforts to reduce these problems. This conference will be a chance to discuss the progress made so far, and the opportunities for the sector to go even further with this work in the coming years.

“We’d encourage anyone working in financial services with an interest in reducing gambling harms to sign up for the conference, and to help shape the sector’s next steps in tackling these issues.”

Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission Chief Executive, said:

“If we are to have a real and lasting impact on tackling gambling harms there must be a multi-sector partnership approach. The financial sector particularly has an important role to play and this event is an opportunity for us to further collaborate.

“We are looking forward to attending and talking about the work we have been doing, what we have coming up and how we can continue to work together to make progress in making gambling safer.”

The conference is part of a two year programme of work Money and Mental Health is undertaking, aimed at increasing action among financial firms towards reducing gambling related harm. The charity has secured funding through a Regulatory Settlement approved by the Gambling Commission (the regulator for the gambling industry) to support this work.