Because I’m 16 Monzo blocks all gambling including National Lottery which is 16+ to play so it’s not very smart for the bank of the future to block it when my other banks work fine. I hope this is fixed in a future update
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But do your other banks also block other gambling places/sites? 
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I don’t remember barclays blocking the lottery for me when I opened my account at 17. They probably don’t block gambling at all to be fair
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No I put that in my question
I’ve got a few bank accounts and none of them block gambling
Hmm, this topic got me thinking I should update my opinion on national lottery. The lotto tonight is a £1.8M jackpot, odds of winning are about 1/45M. So the expected outcome is about £1.8M / 45M which is 4p which is significantly less than the £2 to play 
I’ve never played the national lottery and I never will since statistically I’m going to lose and I don’t like that it exploits human psychology. That said, if people are legally allowed to play then I think Monzo should allow it and at least proceeds from it go to charities and good causes
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From a gambling perspective, you really can’t do worse than the lottery… But I agree Monzo shouldn’t block legal transactions.
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I suspect that Monzo can’t unblock individual gambling providers, and that they can only block all of them?
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Yeah seems a bit stupid to block things you can legally access - surely there are legal ramifications here?
I’m not sure how I feel about this one, on one hand its commendable that Monzo are doing going out their way to do this however on the other hand the onus should be between the gambling company to confirm the age of the customer via KYC practices.
It’s one thing to support a customer with a gambling problem and in this area I do think banks should be supporting customers when they ask for support in preventing them from gambling
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I never did get a satisfactory reply on here about this (which I noticed was an issue from the get go).
Monzo really should apply an individual merchant exclusion to this block, although they might not have programmed a way to do that…
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This definitely shouldn’t be a decision a bank is making for you.
Did you try using in-app support to enquire about unblocking this?
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Yes and they basically just said there’s nothing they can do about it.
I agree I do find it good they have the option to block gambling and offere support but it shouldn’t be forced upon users.
They shouldn’t block them at all then if there unable to
Have you submitted a formal complaint? I don’t think that’s acceptable, to be honest. Banks can’t just go around deciding what you are/aren’t allowed to use.
Liam
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Unfortunately, they are.
For example, I’ve heard of banks blocking bitcoin/crypto-related transactions.
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Would be interesting to get a definitive answer as to why Monzo are blocking a legitimate service for those aged 16+. Is it just all gambling transactions are blanket banned? @simonb @HughWells @Rika?
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I think it’s really bad to be honest because customers should have the freedom to spend where they wish. You need to be 18+ to buy from amazon they don’t block that. You need to be 16+ to play lottery they block that. It doesn’t make sense
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Isn’t the National Lottery the only gambling a 16 year old can legally do? Gambling sites should be blocked as they are for 18+ and Monzo does have a duty of care to its users, especially those legally children, and there are issues with children and gambling in the moment in the UK.
I may sound harsh but if Monzo can’t unblock the National Lottery and keep other gambling sites blocked, hard luck. Walk to the corner shop and buy one with cash.
The government is considering removing this anomaly in gambling law.
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