JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Technology has increasingly transformed the nature and means of online gambling, creating uncharted territory for research and policymaking, and responsible gambling (RG) agenda. Disguised as passive actors, digital payment solutions (DPS) are the latest addition of technology-based service in gambling prominently used for deposit and wins withdrawal. The seamless collaboration between online gambling operators and DPS, however, has raised concerns regarding the potential role of DPS platforms in facilitating harmful behavior.

Objective:

Using a focus group session with problem gamblers, the current study examines the role of DPS in the online gambling context and its influence on players' gambling habits, financial behavior, choices of gambling environment, and the overall outcome of gambling subjective experiences.

Methods:

Six problem gamblers (PG) participated in a one-and-half-hour focus group session to discuss how DPSs are integrated into their everyday gambling habits, what motivates them to use DPS, and what shifts they observe in their gambling behavior. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the empirical evidence with a mix of inductive and deductive research approaches as a knowledge claim strategy.

Results:

Our findings revealed that the influence of DPSs in online gambling is multifaced where, on the one hand, their ability to seamlessly integrate with players’ existing habits underscores the expansionary and facilitating role they play in maximizing harms. On the other hand, we find evidence that DPSs can have a direct influence on gambling outcomes in both subtle and pervasive ways – nudging, institutionalizing, constraining, or triggering players’ gambling activities. The study also highlights the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of online gambling and proposes a preliminary conceptual framework to illustrate the socio-technical interplay between DPS and gambling habits that ultimately capture the outcome of gambling subjective experience.

Conclusions:

As technology increasingly transforms the nature and means of online gambling, new challenges are emerging for responsible measures and policies around gambling activities. Disguised as a passive payment enabler, the role of DPS has so far received scant attention; however, the current study demonstrates that given the technological advantage and access to customer financial data, DPS can become a potent platform to enable and at times trigger harmful gambling. In addition, DPS’s bird-eye view of cross-operator gambling behavior can open up an opportunity for researchers and policymakers to explore harm reduction measures that can be implemented at the digital payment level for gambling customers. Finally, more interdisciplinary studies are needed to formulate the socio-technical nature of online gambling and holistic harm minimization strategy