Being able to block Gambling Transactions from debit card

Dear Monzo,

As a once problem gambler, to help with the temptation, I was wondering if it would be possible to do what no other banks or building society’s can currently do - black gambling transactions on a debit card.

Thank you,
Tom

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I think there has been discussions of this before, but I think it might be worth looking into making Curve your daily spending card in the meantime if you find it difficult to stop spending on your card (you can still select Monzo as your default card in-app) since it blocks gambling transactions.

https://community.monzo.com/t/curve-feedback/15407/212?u=evangelskies

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It’s an interesting idea. It would certainly stop you from using online services and could be complimented with http://optintoselfexclude.info/home/ to self exclude from physical stores.

Seems like something that would fit in with Monzo principles:

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That’s the blog post I was looking for, amazing read!

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I think Fidor do! Perhaps using the Mastercard merchant code

Great idea. Watch this space…

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Is this since last year when they had a 3% fee on gambling? :smirk: is it an opt out thing? How easy to opt back in?
https://community.fidorbank.uk/smart_questions/new-3-fee-on-gambling-and-better

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I guess you could potentially do a pop up in the feed that could highlight the ability to self-exclude from gambling transactions if it detected persistent large amounts spent. But could be considered as nannying and invasive, or not. :man_shrugging:

A toggle to disable gambling but a bigger step to turn it back on would be ideal.

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Not sure, as I don’t gamble (I have enough other vices) but just heard gamblers moaning about Fidor’s approach to their addiction, though not sure what their rules are and if people can get around them. If however they banned use in pubs or restaurants then I would immediately pay attention :wink:

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Yeah, I don’t think that would be the best solution in the long run- it’s sort of like how cigarettes/ alcohol are taxed more in some places but if people were addicts the increased price wouldn’t be a huge enough mental barrier to avoid spending money on it. Not sure how the charge works, but does that get donated to a charity or(?)

The toggle thing + having to speak to someone would be more helpful imo. I think having to speak to someone about it might be a good barrier/ give time to reconsider before impulse spending.

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Thanks everyone for the comments! (and daniel from Monzo!). I feel this really would be a great feature, my previous bank Natwest would not block these companies but I would love Monzo to do it!

For a minimum, a toggle which cannot be toggled back on until the time elapses (e.g. if I say block for 5 years, there is no-way to unblock until the 5 years are over, this is what betting companies in the UK now do).

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Oh wow, daniel. Sounds like this feature has been in the works for a while, thanks so much!!

Love Monzo. x

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It would be great to have a full suite of inclusions and exclusions. For example, if you only wanted thenuse the card for buying groceries for example, you could exclude everything except for that. Or if you didn’t want the card to be used for online purchases you could exclude only those.