Allow consumers to block gambling transactions
Monzo, the UK online lender, sent a letter to Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston, asking him to introduce new blocking tools for gambling transactions and to track the financial data of gambling operators. These tools are necessary and have already proven to be very efficient in correcting gambling-related damage.
The online lender has called on the British government to take a stricter stance on payments to and from gambling companies, ordering banks to block those transactions directly. Banks are the ones who should offer tools to customers that allow them to exclude debit cards and direct bank transfers from gaming transactions.
Monzo insists that operators transfer data to regulators to verify security and suspend all transactions of gambling origin. The government should use the ongoing revision of the Gaming Act 2005 as an opportunity to make it easier for vulnerable players to kick this habit. By centralizing bank details about gambling companies, financial institutions would have the means to block transactions from users who have switched to other methods to avoid card blocks.
Game blocks are a powerful way to help vulnerable players
According to Monzo, around 2 million people in the UK experience damage from gambling, such as going into debt, losing their job, and fighting with family and friends. A gambling lock would allow the bank account or bank card to be blocked from being used for gambling transactions. Having a lock can prevent gamers with gambling problems from being tempted in the future.
According to research from the University of Bristol, 50% of people who activated a gambling lock had spent less or no money on gambling since then.
40% of UK checking accounts do not allow gambling to be blocked
The game blocks are extremely effective, but sadly, they are not available to everyone yet. There are banks that block up to 585,000 gambling transactions per month, this equates to one or two attempts at gambling transactions for each person who uses it. Other banks offer the ability to block some gambling transactions such as Halifax, Natwest, Lloyds, and RBS. However, 40% of UK checking accounts do not allow you this option.
The role banks must play in helping to protect vulnerable people
Online gambling has long been on the rise in the UK – and with casinos and betting shops shut due to lockdown, consumers have turned more to their phones and laptops in order to gamble. Last year, the Gambling Commission shone a light on the fact that regular gamblers had upped their betting during lockdown, leading to the regulator calling for new measures to protect vulnerable people.
For most people, gambling remains an enjoyable pastime or hobby but for others, it can escalate and develop into an addiction with major impacts on financial and mental health. Yet what many do not appreciate is the role that banks can and should play in helping to protect vulnerable people and reduce gambling harm.
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