There are many different types of gambling, and some are more obvious than others. Payments flagged as gambling on your affordability insights can include:
Betting online or in-person
Using online or in-person casinos
It does not include lotteries or sweepstakes.
Our open banking partner, Bud, categorises the payments for us. Currently, we can’t amend these ourselves. However, if you are seeing gambling usage on your affordability insights, and don’t believe you have made payments in the above categories, please reach out to us so we can look into this further for you.
Although low levels of gambling aren’t usually a concern to lenders, it can be easy for gambling to get out of hand. This can impact a person’s finances, health and relationships.
Low levels of gambling will still show as green, but higher levels of gambling will be flagged on the affordability insights feature as something that could impact how lenders see you.
If you are seeing gambling as a red factor on your affordability insights and want to decrease how much you spend on gambling, you may wish to check out the following organisations:
GamCare are the UK’s leading support provider to those struggling with gambling. They have a telephone helpline, a live and Whatsapp chat, as well as a forum and chat rooms.
Gamble Aware offers free and confidential support to anyone who is worried about their own or someone else’s gambling. You can take their quiz to see the impacts gambling may be having or use their spend calculator to see how much time and money is being spent on gambling. They work with GamCare so that their users can access GamCare’s live chat and helpline.
Gamblers Anonymous is a fellowship of people who meet regularly to share their experiences, without judgement. They also have a forum, chat room and other useful content to support those struggling with gambling. You can contact them by email or telephone.
Please note, the affordability insights data you see isn’t shared directly with lenders. However, a lender may request your bank account data if you apply for credit.