Launched in September 2019, Money and Gambling: Practice, Insight, Evidence (MAGPIE) is a three-year strategic programme and partnership between the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) and GambleAware. We are looking at the potential role of financial services firms – such as banks, building societies, lenders, e-money firms, credit reference agencies – in reducing gambling-related harm.
Over the course of the programme, we are exploring the implications of a wide range of possible moves to protect consumers, from the introduction of spending controls and cash withdrawal limits on customers’ accounts to firms’ policies around identifying and supporting those at-risk of gambling-related harm.
By working with people who have lived experience of gambling problems, as well as clinicians and those working on the frontline in financial services, we aim to produce new evidence-informed practical guidance on ‘what works’ for reducing harm. In doing so, we hope to improve policy and practice across the financial services industry and beyond.