Last updated: October 09, 2023
An increasing number of experts, charities, institutions, and the online bank Monzo have come together with one thing in mind. They call on the UK Government to force banks with gaming blocks as an intervention for people who want to quit gambling.
The recommendation has been made to help combat the rise of irresponsible gambling behaviors as the industry continues to grow.
Under the recommended interventions, the UK Government would force banks to allow customers to disable gambling transactions, requiring providers to disclose their banking details.
The step is significant, but what has lead to the recommendations? The call came from a review by Monzo and their partners, determining that 1 in 5 British people engage in online gambling daily.
Monzo bank has been very active in promoting better regulation of the gambling habits of Brits. CEO TS Anil penned an open letter to UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston urging the Government to acknowledge the considerable role that financial services can play in harm reduction.
With the growing number of people gambling and participating in online casino games, now is the perfect opportunity to enact a standardized, comprehensive framework of self-exclusion tools, said Anil.
A GambleAware report from 2020 suggests that close to 40% of existing UK players do not have the option to use a gambling block through their bank.
The suggested proposal featured three key components to offer better protection to the harms of irresponsible gambling habits long-term. These include:
Monzo is leading the discussion to install gambling blocks and shared results that indicated the blocks worked. The opt-in features are simple to build and proven to work. Monzo said that over 275,000 of their customers are taking advantage of the feature, resulting in over 50% of those customers spending less or no money on gaming since opting-in.
While a collection of Monzo banks partners supported the recommendations, the letter was also signed by researchers from the University of Bristol and executives from:
Are you struggling with your gambling habits? It’s never too late to stop. Help is available 24/7 and is 100% confidential, give the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network a call on 1-800-522-4700.
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