Tag: UK

Leeds based RegTech firm, TruNarrative are celebrating the third anniversary of its platform which has transformed the way businesses; onboard their customers, ensure compliance with regulation and prevent financial crime.

Marking the occasion, TruNarrative unveils a new look, to ensure its brand reflects their innovative, forward-thinking technology and prepares the company for future growth.

TruNarrative was founded in 2017 through a partnership between Yorkshire Fintech Entrepreneur, John Lord and Larry Smith, a high-net-worth serial technology entrepreneur from California.

The founding team included, John, Ryan Morrison, Mike Harriss and Dave Eastaugh – industry experts with over 100 years of combined experience in the data and technology space, had all previously worked together at GB group plc, where John was the group managing director.

Their mission was to create a unifying platform for workflow, orchestration & decisioning for the prevention of financial crime, available to businesses of all sizes through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) technology.

TruNarrative now boasts sales exceeding eight figures and has many high-profile customers including some of the world’s largest challenger banks, gambling organisations and leading payment services businesses.

TruNarrative’s customers benefit from the latest AI-driven Onboarding, Risk Rating and Transaction Monitoring technology for Fraud Prevention, and Anti-Money Laundering (AML).

Delivered through their cloud-based SaaS, TruNarrative’s Risk & Financial Crime platform has close partnerships with over 100 pre-integrated third-party data sources covering 150+ countries.

In February of this year, TruNarrative also launched a simplified version of their technology, serving high street professional services, and have customers across accountants, lawyers, estate agents and procurement managers.

The Technology firm currently employees over 60+ people in their Leeds office, and is set to expand significantly within the next twelve months.

Unveiled in July, the rebrand sees TruNarrative make significant aesthetic changes across their product logo, website and marketing collateral.

“4 years ago my team and I had an idea, that financial crime, customer onboarding and compliance could be orchestrated in a single SaaS solution. That idea has now grown into one of the UK’s leading RegTech firms, employing 60+ in our office above Leeds Kirkgate Market.” John Lord, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder at TruNarrative

The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute has today launched a new best practice guide to help banks and building societies step up efforts to support the growing number of customers affected by gambling harms.

Money and Mental Health’s research shows that banks and building societies can play a crucial role in reducing gambling harms, thanks to the unique insight they have into customer’s spending behaviours.

The new guide sets out ideas and advice on how banks can better identify and reach out to customers at risk, and empower them with support and tools to manage their financial situation. It has been produced to help banks follow the Financial Conduct Authority’s guidance on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, with recommended actions all relating to relevant sections of the FCA guidance.

Developed in collaboration with financial services professionals — and drawing on the testimonies of people with lived experience of gambling problems — the guide focuses on three key areas where banks can make the biggest difference in supporting those at risk:

• Creating a culture of support, and ensuring staff are equipped to help. Suggested actions here include making gambling a focus in plans to help vulnerable customers, providing frontline staff with training on gambling problems, and putting in place internal systems and resources to help staff support customers at risk.

• Identifying and reaching out to those at risk. The guide offered advice on how banks can use customer transaction data in an appropriate and ethical way to spot those at risk, and ensure that their communications about problem gambling are as supportive and effective as possible.

• Supporting and empowering those at risk. The guide lists measures firms should consider to support and empower those identified as being at risk — from providing signposting to external sources of help, to offering tools such as settings to block gambling transactions on cards and other kinds of spending controls to help them manage their finances.

Recognising that different firms have made varying degrees of progress in supporting customers with gambling problems, the guide is designed to offer ideas and encouragement to all banks on actions they can take. It sets out three levels of actions that firms can take: essential first steps all banks should start with, more advanced measures they could consider and actions they can take to lead the sector in tackling gambling harms.

Helen Undy, Chief Executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said:

“Gambling problems can cause utter devastation for those affected and their loved ones. Banks are in a unique position to help, and we have been hugely encouraged by the progress made in recent years, especially with the increasing number of banks offering the option for customers to block gambling on their cards.

“But there are still important opportunities for banks to build on this progress and to step up support for those at risk. We hope this guide can equip firms with the practical advice and ideas they need to take the next steps in improving support for customers, no matter how advanced or otherwise they are in this work.

“We’ve worked closely with frontline financial services professionals, and people affected by gambling problems, to ensure this guide is as relevant and practical as possible. But we’ve also set out ambitious ideas for how the sector can go further in making a real difference in reducing the harms that gambling problems can cause.”

Tim Miller, Executive Director at the Gambling Commission (the regulator for the gambling industry), said:

“To have a real and lasting impact on tackling gambling harms there must be a multi-sector partnership approach, and the financial sector has a particularly important role to play. This guide sets out useful ideas and steps firms can take to help protect those at risk, building on the progress they have made over recent years. We hope it will help financial services firms to continue to have a meaningful impact in reducing the financial and other harms which can result from gambling problems.”

Money and Mental Health’s guide is published as part of a two year programme of work the charity is undertaking, aimed at increasing action among financial firms towards reducing gambling related harm. The charity has secured funding through a Regulatory Settlement approved by the Gambling Commission to support this work.

More than eight out of ten (82%) consumers have stopped or reduced their gambling since registering with GAMSTOP, according to the first independent evaluation of the UK’s online self-exclusion scheme.

The report by research consultancy Sonnet, based on surveys of more than 3,300 users and in-depth interviews, found that 84% felt safer from gambling-related harm and more in control of their gambling after registering with GAMSTOP. Eight out of ten (80%) said that the self-exclusion scheme had delivered on their intended outcomes, whether they wanted to stop gambling completely, reduce their gambling or simply to take a short break.

Although financial losses were often an important trigger for registering with GAMSTOP, consumers also reported significant improvements in their well-being:

• 77% felt more in control of their personal or household finances
• 72% reported improvements in their levels of anxiety and stress
• 63% enjoyed an improvement in the quality of their family relationships
• 60% found they were better able to focus at work
• 40% reported they were consuming less alcohol

The report’s recommendations include:

• Longer self-exclusion periods – currently, the maximum self-exclusion is five years, which had been selected by 71% of consumers surveyed, but four out of ten wanted the option of excluding themselves from all online gambling for longer
• Helping consumers to access specialist support – 53% of GAMSTOP’s users have not previously used gambling-related support services so the scheme can be a bridge to other organisations offering help with gambling addiction by working more closely with them
• Actively engaging with family and friends of consumers – only 28% of consumers were supported by friends or family, with many too embarrassed or ashamed to seek help, so raising awareness of the service among those affected by a loved one’s gambling will provide a broader support network for consumers and their families
• Responding to the threat posed by unlicensed gambling websites – The scheme’s users are deliberately targeted by unlicensed sites – an issue highlighted in GAMSTOP’s response to the DCMS Gambling Act review – and 10% reported accessing them while self-excluded so greater controls on these sites are required to prevent them being exposed to temptation
• More research into the harmful effects of advertising – consumers consistently expressed their frustration at being exposed to gambling advertising and wanted greater protection

More than 200,000 consumers have registered with GAMSTOP since the scheme’s inception in 2018. The report found that GAMSTOP had reached a broad cross-section of the population across all demographic groups.

Women aged over 44 were identified as an important demographic, making up 53% of all women surveyed, and the report recommends reaching out to older age groups more generally, together with specific initiatives aimed at people with below national average income. It advocates a marketing strategy to target high-risk groups, making the service more visible through online searches and on operators’ websites.

The report concludes:

“This study shows very strongly that GAMSTOP is successfully achieving a reduction in gambling-related harm with far-reaching positive impacts for consumers being clearly shown in our interviews and survey… Our findings show that GAMSTOP is effective across all age groups, gender groups and, importantly, for all types of online gambling.

The vast majority (of consumers) report a very positive experience of using the service, and our research highlights that it is effective both in terms of delivering consumers’ objectives but also in alleviating a wide range of gambling-related harms”.

An office worker in his 30s, who was spending up to £300 per spin on online slot machines and ran up debts of more than £10,000, registered with GAMSTOP after his partner left him and he feared losing his job. He told researchers that, having self-excluded for five years, he felt safe from temptation during lockdown and has stopped gambling completely. He is now paying back his debts to family and friends and said: “I think this service saved my life. Best thing I ever did is cancel my demons by using this amazing service”.

A delivery driver in her mid-twenties, who was spending almost her entire weekly wage on gambling, and had tried self-excluding from individual websites, found that registering with GAMSTOP helped her take control of her gambling. She is getting married this year and has built up her savings. With the support of her family and partner, she has restricted herself to the occasional £5 bet on football at high street bookmakers and intends to renew her self-exclusion every five years to resist the temptation of betting online.

She said: “The last year I haven’t gambled at all, it was hard at first but now I don’t miss it and the money I have saved is unbelievable”.

Fiona Palmer, chief executive of GAMSTOP, said:

“We are grateful to Sonnet for carrying out this very detailed evaluation of the service and are studying their recommendations carefully. We are delighted to know that vulnerable consumers who have registered with GAMSTOP have found it has helped them control their gambling and made a positive impact on their lives.

The insights in this report are extremely helpful and we welcome the opportunity to look at all suggestions for further improvements to the service, including extending the length of the maximum exclusion period to give them peace of mind that they will benefit from the long-term protection that GAMSTOP provides”.

MERKUR Initiative, which has been created by the high street gaming entertainment operator to recognise the smaller community-based charities and good causes that frequently get overlooked, is being trialled across ten high street venues with the first awards scheduled to be announced by the middle of the month. The experience gained from the pilot will be fed back into a phased national roll-out which will follow almost immediately.

Lola Wood, MERKUR UK’s Customer Experience Manager believes both the MERKUR Slots and MERKUR Bingo brands play a key role in their communities. She stated: “Most people will immediately associate Bingo Clubs with the term ‘Community’ but the same also applies to our 180 high street entertainment venues located in towns and cities throughout Great Britain.

“These are the places where friends meet and socialise in safe and familiar surroundings and where the staff will greet them by their first name. MERKUR Initiative builds on the profound connections that exist between venue and community by identifying those local ‘not for profit’ groups that quite frequently go unnoticed but quietly get on doing outstanding work in the community.”

“MERKUR Initiative will draw on the insight and local knowledge of staff who are being asked to nominate the good causes they want to support. Money raised through the venues will then be pooled nationally with head office contributing to the final donation.”

MERKUR UK is hoping to identify the local heroes and groups that are the lifeblood of so many communities. Lola Wood explained: “The awards that we will be making through MERKUR Initiative will help those that go the extra mile to continue to do the fantastic work that keeps communities together. I’m looking forward to meeting those local heroes and recognising them for what they do in the MERKUR UK communities that we are so proud to be a part of.”