How can the gambling industry improve its approach to player protection? By looking beyond its own regulatory frameworks and learning from the consumer protection strategies of other industries.
Drawing on research from more than 2,000 consumers, an international survey of gambling industry professionals and interviews with regulators and third-sector organisations, this SBC Insights report explores what iGaming can learn from sectors including pharmaceuticals, consumer credit, alcohol and tobacco.
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WHY THIS REPORT MATTERS
Is compliance enough to protect players?
The gambling industry has invested significantly in player protection, introducing safer gambling tools, monitoring systems, staff training and increasingly sophisticated regulatory frameworks.
But how effective are these measures from the perspective of the people they are designed to protect?
There is a clear disconnect between industry confidence and consumer perception. While gambling professionals are generally positive about the sector’s approach to player protection, consumers are considerably less convinced.
Rather than looking exclusively within gambling for answers, this report examines how other industries manage the risks associated with their products and services, identifying practical lessons that could help operators strengthen their own approach.
From more effective risk communication and financial safeguards to behavioural monitoring and proactive interventions, From Compliance to Care challenges the industry to think beyond regulatory compliance and consider what a more mature player protection framework should look like.
THE RESEARCH
What can gambling learn from other industries?
The report examines consumer protection approaches across eight industries, assessing how their methods could be adapted to improve player protection in gambling.
Alcohol
How direct, engaging consumer education and honest communication about potential harms can encourage more informed decisions.
Consumer credit
How affordability assessments, real-time warnings, spending controls and behavioural monitoring can help identify and prevent financial harm.
Pharmaceuticals and medical products
How clear product-risk information and monitoring of individual consumer behaviour can support better protection.
Tobacco and nicotine products
How prominent, consistent health-risk messaging can make consumers more aware of the potential consequences of using a product.
Trading platforms
How risk assessments, knowledge questionnaires and proportionate friction can encourage consumers to consider the risks before making decisions.
The report also considers cannabis and CBD, telecommunications and broadcasting, and cryptocurrency exchanges, examining their standing in the eyes of consumers and gambling industry professionals.
WHAT’S INSIDE THE REPORT?
Exploring the future of player protection
The research goes beyond comparing industries, examining the views of consumers, operators and specialists to identify where the gambling sector can improve.
The report explores:
- The perception gap: Why gambling professionals and consumers have such different views of the industry’s player protection standards.
- Lessons from other industries: How consumer credit, pharmaceuticals, alcohol, tobacco and trading platforms approach risk, education and consumer safety.
- The role of safer gambling tools: Which tools consumers find most useful, how widely they are used and where operators see opportunities to improve uptake.
- Financial limits and beneficial friction: Why financial controls and additional decision-making steps could play a greater role in preventing gambling-related harm.
- Behavioural monitoring: How operators can use customer data to identify changes in behaviour and support earlier intervention.
- The role of public health: Whether a broader public health approach could help the industry develop more effective prevention and support strategies.
- The potential of AI: How predictive models and more personalised interventions could contribute to the next generation of player protection.
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