The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) has published a new set of guidelines for companies involved in gambling-related payment processing. Underlining the rationale behind the guidance, the council said that operators, vendors, payment processors, financial institutions, regulators and gamblers have important roles to play in minimizing potential harm from gambling activities.
Corporations, said the NCPG, can play a critical role in reducing the negative consequences associated with gambling, the most severe of which can include debt, bankruptcy, broken relationships, homelessness, or even suicide. For companies that make profits from gambling, harm-reduction measures are both a sound business practice and an essential corporate social responsibility.
The Guidelines for Payments Processing are designed to guide the industry’s thinking about solutions to these issues, as the council’s Executive Director Keith Whyte explained. “Payment limits can be an important responsible gambling tool, offering a consumer-centric approach that emphasizes player control, information, and shared responsibility,” he said.
“Our guidelines are based on an informed consumer choice model and can help payment processors play an important role in reducing gambling addiction.”
The organization also warned that unlike the UK, where credit card use for gambling is now prohibited due to public backlash, some states in the US where gambling is legal allow credit cards for gambling. “To sustain this business model, the industry must pay attention to potential negative outcomes and work to prevent them,” it said.
The NCPG also called on all stakeholders to encourage people who gamble to set their own limits of time and money; use personalized responsible gambling messages; allow players to self-exclude from gambling platforms and venues; and allow players to synchronize their exclusions with venue and state exclusion lists.
It also urged firms to research signs of problematic play; utilize the payments data they collect to monitor performance; and develop models to help predict and prevent excessive usage.
For a copy of the full document, Guidelines for Payments Processing, click here.
