Monzo reveals rise in customers using gambling block tool
Online bank Monzo says it has seen 50,000 of its customers utilising its gambling block tool for the first time over the past six months.
The figure represents a third more than the number of people who started using it in the previous six months. The group also blocked 20% more transactions than it did in the prior period.
The tool helps people to curb their gambling habits by blocking transactions to a betting company through their current account, with the rise in customers using the tool coming amid growing cost pressures and shrinking consumer budgets.
Monzo functions by grouping transactions into a certain spending category, and so the bank is able to detect if a transaction is going towards a gambling company. Once turned on, the tool can only be turned off by customers contacting the customer support team and waiting 48 hours to disable it in the app themselves.
Monzo added that over half a million of its almost seven million customers have used the gambling block since it launched in June 2018.
“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,” said Monzo Head of Vulnerability, Access and Inclusion Natalie Ledward.
“It’s a great example of the kind of tools banks can put in place to help vulnerable customers.”
Monzo was the first UK bank to launch the block, with the likes of Lloyds Bank, NatWest and Chase since introducing similar features on their mobile apps.
Last month, Lloyds Bank introduced a trial for personalised monthly gambling spend limits, with customers able to set personalised limits on how much they spend each month on gambling using their debit card.
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