It’s not hard to see how such features might be extended – and abused. Why not introduce, say, a McDonald’s block? “McDonald’s, yeah, you could do a McDonald’s block quite easily,” says Blomfield. “But alcohol and cigarettes are the two I would really love to put a block on.” Monzo doesn’t have the data to do this by itself, he explains. “But what Tesco could do is send entire receipt data through the Mastercard and Visa networks, which would then enable us to say: ‘Aha! There’s alcohol on that!’ Then we could decline the transaction until you take the alcohol out of your cart and re-swipe your card. It’s entirely possible, it just needs all the shops to adopt it.”
In a recent interview published in the Guardian (link at the bottom of post) Tom Blomfield ( Monzo’s CEO) is reported to have said the following :
“But alcohol and cigarettes are the two (things) I would really love to put a block on.” Monzo doesn’t have the data to do this by itself, he explains. “But what Tesco could do is send entire receipt data through the Mastercard and Visa networks, which would then enable us to say: ‘Aha! There’s alcohol on that!’ Then we could decline the transaction until you take the alcohol out of your cart and re-swipe your card. It’s entirely possible, it just needs all the shops to adopt it.”
Has he lost his mind !? I know I for one would be cutting up my card within the hour if such a rule was implemented and I’m guessing from standing in Bars and watching other Monzo users also buying (lots) of alcohol with their cards too that many other users might just feel the same !
Perhaps he might clarify that as he clearly stated that
“But alcohol and cigarettes are the two (things) “I” would really love to put a block on.”
He didn’t say they are things he’d like to make a block available for if one decided to use it, but that they were things that “he” would like to put a block on.
Whilst you may well be right as to his intent ( let’s hope you are) that’s not actually what he said.
If one understands how the block works then I don’t see it as misleading. It is a self-exclusionary tool that is designed to help people suffering from addiction and is a solid example of a bank making tools to actually help it’s own customers as opposed to making money off them.
For clarity I have no issues with the concept of user selected blocks by customers who feel they are useful to them. My post relates to the words used by Tom. Perhaps just a bad choice of words by him during in a longish interview by him but the fact that I and others had questioned his meaning and intent I think it shows the need for clarity - especially when such a statement is being made by the CEO himself.
A similar philosophy lies behind the gambling block pioneered by Monzo’s vulnerable customers team – since copied by other banks. Customers can opt to block all gambling transactions from their cards, with a 48-hour cooling-off period, “giving people that little bit of extra friction to control their behaviour in ways they want is incredibly powerful.”
And this is the problem with in-person interviews that are then transcribed, and select quotes pulled into a journalist-written narrative. You lose context. You lose nuance.
For all we know, this specific quote could have been (and most likely was) preceded by clarity around how our gambling block works or at the very least a natural flow of conversation around the block in general (which is described in the article)
I really like the idea of itemised transaction data. It would be great if all the necessary groups could work towards a universal solution for that. I know flux is working towards that, but it it’s slow going so far.
I think it’s pretty obvious this would be an opt-in feature. What I would want would be an opt-in for shops sending itemised lists to my bank to go along with this. I don’t see why my bank should have this information unless I want them to have it.
Oh definitely, opt in for itemised transaction data with an incognito toggle would be great.
But yeah, this is all very far future thinking that would required loads of different bodies to work together - and obviously they would want a reason for doing it.
It’s already possible for information to be passed back to your bank. I’ve seen it done when booking flights on an bank card and the flight details appear on your bank statement. So it might not be as far off as you think
True but the only way I’d see companies doing it with itemised shopping receipts, which would need to be sent to the bank to see if there was a block and then authorised, was if it was something lots of banks were asking for. Think it would be too much faff
