Abstract
Traditional approaches that seek to study Responsible Gambling (RG) mainly focus on evaluating platform-based intervention tools applied on gambling operator sites. This paper reports on the implementation, at the payment-solution level, of an intervention tool that gambling customers used to deposit their bets. The approach pre-commits customers to set a single-point spending limit on their payment gateway account, effectively enabling them to apply their budget setting on all gambling platforms on which they choose to play. Ten users who have used the provision for at least six months and on two different gambling platforms were selected for an in-depth interview. Based on the findings from content analysis, the article argues that payment-level intervention approach can potentially (1) provide the overall gambling population with better financial literacy regarding their gambling habits, which promotes responsible spending behaviour, (2) elevate the strain on users to set up intervention tools on every individual platform, and (3) serve as a preventive measure regardless of the existence or absence of intervention tools at gambling sites. Furthermore, the results affirm a gap in existing research and a need for comprehensive guidelines and strategies for financial institutions to positively contribute towards the agenda of RG. The findings of this study highlight the need for revisiting theoretical and philosophical foundations of intervention tool studies and gambling policymaking as well as calls for reassessing how we problematised harmful gambling. The paper contributes to the research on gambling intervention tools.
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Appendix 1. Interview Guidelines
Appendix 1. Interview Guidelines
Part 1. General online gambling questions:
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How long have you been playing?
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What game(s) did you begin with?
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What is your main goal/s of gambling (e.g., for income, for having fun)?
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Do you always use online services for gaming/gambling?
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Which game(s) do you play online?
Part 2. Questions on our budget tools:
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When did you start using a budget?
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Why did you start using a budget?
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How do you understand the purpose of setting a budget?
Part 3. Questions on gambling after setting the budget:
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Have your gambling habits changes after setting a budget?
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Has your gambling changed in any way since you set a budget, and if so, can you elaborate?
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How did the budgeting tools help you to control your finances?
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Did you use the budget systems across different sites/merchants, and if so, how was your experience?
Part 4. Questions on what to improve:
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In your opinion, what can be done to improve the efficacy of budgeting?
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Do you have any other opinions about Fintechpay that you would like to share?
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Lakew, N. “Show Me the Money”: Preliminary Lessons from an Implementation of Intervention Tools at the Payment Gateway Level. J Gambl Stud 38, 297–317 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-021-10023-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-021-10023-4