FSRG Initiative’s first report examines how digital gambling access, frictionless payments, and gaps in financial literacy are reshaping financial risk and identifies cross-sector opportunities for earlier prevention and intervention.
DENVER, Colo. — March 10, 2026 — Kindbridge Research Institute’s Financial Stability and Responsible Gambling (FSRG) Initiative—launched in partnership with UCLA—released a new report today, Gambling-Related Financial Harm: A Public Health Approach to Financial Stability in a Digital Era. The report examines how gambling has become more digitally embedded in everyday financial life and why early indicators of harm often go undetected.
Drawing on insights from the FSRG Initiative’s cross-sector working group, the report finds that gambling in the United States has rapidly shifted from a largely cash-based activity to a normalized digital experience embedded in everyday financial life. As online platforms expand the range of “bettable” products and instant payment tools make it easier to wager in real time, spending and losses can become harder to recognize, often remaining invisible within traditional financial health indicators until harm intensifies.
“Financial stress linked to gambling often appears long before people reach crisis or clinical care,” said Kary Carbone, Project Lead for the FSRG Initiative. “But today those signals are scattered across financial, healthcare, and payment systems that rarely connect the dots. This report highlights why earlier coordination could help identify risk sooner and prevent harm from escalating.”
The report also highlights the clinical impact of gambling-related financial stress.
“Financial harm is often one of the earliest and most damaging consequences of problematic gambling behavior,” said Dr. Timothy Fong, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and Co-Director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program. “By the time people reach clinical care, the financial fallout can already be severe. This report underscores the need for prevention strategies that connect financial wellbeing and mental health earlier in the trajectory.”
Key insights highlighted in the report include:
• Normalization of gambling is accelerating, with widespread marketing and expanding product availability outpacing public health, financial, and regulatory frameworks.
• Instant funding and frictionless payments can increase risk, including “one-click” transactions and digital wallets that may reduce the perceived “pain of paying.”
• Financial literacy has not kept pace with product complexity, leaving many consumers—especially young adults—without adequate safeguards.
• Responsibility for prevention remains fragmented across sectors, limiting coordinated prevention and early intervention across finance, payments, gambling platforms, healthcare, and regulators.
As gambling becomes more accessible through digital platforms and instant payment tools, the report highlights that gambling-related financial harm should be understood as both a financial stability and public health issue—not solely as an individual clinical concern. Financial stress linked to gambling often emerges long before people reach clinical care, creating opportunities for earlier identification and prevention. The report calls for stronger coordination across sectors to recognize these signals sooner and support prevention before harm escalates.
About the Financial Stability and Responsible Gambling (FSRG) Initiative
The Financial Stability and Responsible Gambling (FSRG) Initiative is the first coordinated U.S. effort to confront gambling-related financial harm as a public health and financial stability issue. Launched by Kindbridge Research Institute (KRI) in partnership with UCLA, the initiative brings together cross-sector stakeholders to develop practical strategies that reduce preventable harm and strengthen early prevention and intervention.
About Kindbridge Research Institute
Kindbridge Research Institute (KRI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research and solutions for mental health challenges and behavioral addictions. Through strategic collaboration with leading experts, policymakers, and mental health professionals, KRI drives meaningful change and strives to enhance the well-being of individuals and families affected by gambling-related harm, as well as other behavioral health issues.
Media Contact
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