GamCare’s Bold Move: Why It’s Stepping Back from Safer Gambling Services

GamCare is the leading UK charity committed to minimizing gambling-related harm while announcing that it would be unable to continue providing new Safer Gambling services into the industry. Since 1997, GamCare has been at the heart of the responsible gaming landscape—supportive, educational, and service-driven in its quest to make the environment for players safer. The Safer Gambling Standard is a certification designed by GamCare, placing rigorous demands on gambling operators to ensure safer practices are maintained. Now, GamCare has decided to pull out of the expansion of its services in this particular area.

What is GamCare?

GamCare is a UK charity committed to minimizing and addressing the harms related to gambling. It operates the National Gambling Helpline and offers free information, advice, and support for anyone affected by problem gambling. GamCare works in partnerships with the gambling industry for the development of safer practices, along with providing training and certification programs that help operators meet the standards for responsible gambling.

The Safer Gambling Standard explained

The standard laid down by GamCare on Safer Gambling has a set of standards that operators may use to prove their concerns about responsible gaming. The only way an organization will meet this standard is through stringent measures put in place for player protection, self-exclusion tools, deposit limits, and help for people suffering from gambling harm. The standard is an approval that shows the best practice in the industry; it therefore encourages operators to begin paying more attention to the protection of players.

Why GamCare is stepping back

GamCare has decided to rule out continuing its new Safer Gambling services due to an inability to secure consistent funding in conjunction with a generally poor strategic fit with potential partners or acquirers. The charity operates in an increasingly uncertain funding environment, which makes it hard for harm-reduction charities to sustain and grow their services. In addition, GamCare has come to realize that the nature of this Safer Gambling Standard certification service is out of pitch with goals from potential buyers. Consequently, GamCare announced that it would discontinue these services at the close of the year following consultation with the affected staff. The decision by GamCare has now released resources for focus on core mandate issues such as supporting individuals affected by gambling-related harm.

Implications for the gambling industry

The only potentially adverse implication of such a decision from GamCare would be that it leaves what might be called a gap in responsible gaming certification. Many have used the Safer Gambling Standard as a guideline for practice, and GamCare's certification is considered a seal of trustworthiness and commitment to player protection. With no new Safer Gambling Standard certifications, operators will have to find other ways to prove their dedication to the cause of safer gambling practices.

Other operators might seek other accreditations or develop in-house programs as well in order to gain and/or maintain player trust and meet regulatory requirements. With regulators from the UK and Europe increasing their focus on responsible gambling, a lack of new GamCare certifications may also force operators to seek similar accreditation elsewhere.

Potential impact on players

But this may be a cause for concern on the move by GamCare, given that the Safer Gambling Standard has been among those best-recognized signs of the commitment of a gambling operator to responsible practices. This decision not to grant new certifications by GamCare may raise doubts over the assurance of high-quality, independently verified safer gambling services in the industry.

However, GamCare probably aims to increase more direct support services, which might be useful for people seeking this kind of help. In concentrating more resources on front-line support, GamCare would find itself in a better position to effectively respond to those playing problems emanating from gambling. This would bring about easy access to resources, helplines, and educational material, each purposed to train players with better choices.

Are there any alternatives?

With GamCare removing itself from granting new Safer Gambling Standard certifications, operators in gambling might focus on other organizations and standards that can fill the gap. Some of these could be:

• BetBlocker and GamStop: These are self-exclusion schemes that let players restrict access to online gambling sites across a range of operators. Neither is actually a certification body per se, but both support safe gambling initiatives by affording/providing a range of options under which players can limit their gambling.
• The Gambling Commission's LCCP (Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice): The UK Gambling Commission has devised its own set of standards in relation to responsible gambling within its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. Operators will be required to adhere to the stipulation, which ranges from a raft of safer gambling measures on player protection to protocols related to self-exclusion.
• Responsible Gaming Council: Based in Canada, the RGC provides international-level accreditation and training in responsible gaming. It would provide a certificate similar to the Safer Gambling Standard and could be exploited by operators seeking third-party verification of their responsible gaming activities.

• Third-party audits independently sought from operators: Independently, some operators would seek audits conducted by independent firms specializing in responsible gambling practices. This, in turn, would mean a commitment to responsible gaming and also a starting point from which further amendments may be required.

Final say

GamCare's decision to cease issuing new Safer Gambling Standard certifications is monumental in the realm of responsible gambling. It doubtlessly will be an aggravation to gambling operators, which have grown dependent on the GamCare standard; the shifting of that focus to supporting players directly shows the organizational priority given to the most serious needs concerning gambling-related harm.

The move would only seal the obligation of companies to find or develop alternative measures that ensure their operations are in line with responsible gaming. This would also mean that with shifting tectonic plates in the certification landscape for players, an increased focus by GamCare on direct support services translates to a rise in access to key resources. These doubtless will continue to shape the gambling industry, and further partnerships, tools, and programs are likely to arise. It is to be hoped that their basis in the principles of safer gambling—if no longer directly involving GamCare itself—will become increasingly the case.