British banks see rise in use of gambling block software 

Financial services providers are linking the rise to the cost of living crisis.

UK.- Banks and financial services providers have reported seeing a rise in the number of customers using gambling block software. The increased use has been connected to rising inflation, particularly energy prices during the winter, on top of Christmas spending pressure.

Monzo, one of the first banks to introduce gambling block software in the UK, said 50,000 customers had used its tool in the past two months, up by a third over the previous six months. The number of transactions blocked in the period was up by 20 per cent year-on-year.

Monzo’s head of vulnerability access and inclusion, Natalie Ledward, told the Press Association: “Amid the cost-of-living crisis, we know that tools like our gambling block are more important than ever in providing customers with much needed support,” she said. “It’s a great example of the kind of tools banks can put in place to help vulnerable customers.”

Monzo was one of the first banks to introduce a complete gambling block in the UK. Since then several major high street banks including Lloyds Bank and NatWest have since introduced their own tools. Last month, Lloyds became the first high-street bank to let customers set personalised gambling spending limits.

The feature allows people using the Lloyds Bank mobile app to set a monthly debit card gambling limit of any amount to the nearest pound, for spending online, in person or over the phone. Limits can be set or changed within the mobile app 

The bank says the system is the first of its kind for a UK high-street bank. It highlighted research from the Gambling Commission that showed that approximately one in three UK adults participate in gambling excluding lotteries, and up to 3 per cent are estimated to be at some risk of harm due to their gambling (0.3 per cent is considered to be ‘problem’ gambling).

This year, PayPal entered into an agreement with Gamban to offer US and UK users a method to block gambling payments via the payment platform.