A new report argues that gambling in the United States no longer sits on the margins of financial life. Instead, researchers say it has moved quickly into the mainstream, reshaped by smartphones, digital payment systems and constant online access.

According to the analysis , US gambling has “shifted rapidly from a discrete, cash-based activity to a normalized, digitally embedded financial behavior,” a transformation researchers say carries growing financial and public health risks.

The report from the Financial Services Research Group and the Kindbridge Research Institute focuses on how betting has blended into the same digital systems people already use for everyday spending.…