Hey everyone!
We’re working on a feature that lets people block transactions to gambling sites, directly from the Monzo app.
Read all about it here:
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I am so excited about this!!
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That’s brilliant 
Glad other restrictions such as lower withdrawals and the 30 day limit are a possibility in the future
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I like the setting money aside idea, as that could work with so many other groups too, like low income, or those on ESA/DLA/PIP, ensuring their bills are paid if they’re living independently.
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This. This is what makes Monzo great. Such a fantastic idea.
Would this block transactions in casinos too?
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Will you provide information on the 2 national exclusion schemes or deposit limits when someone turns on gambling block?
Turning it off “at the source” is great until you realise you have multiple bank accounts…
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This is such a great idea and really shows how powerfully Monzo could affect people’s lives in the future 
. Fortunately it’s not something I need but it’s great that Monzo is recognising how people can fall on hard times and addictions often creep up on them as their way of trying to solve their financial themselves.
I love the gambling lock feature (and especially the delay to turn it off and the need to chat with Monzo before you can) and I also think the idea for a trusted representative to authorise gambling transactions could work well.
I do think Monzo should take care implementing the gambling restriction removal via chat. It’s a big risk to ask a customer representative to decide whether someone is fit to have the gambling restriction removed, without taking some sort of responsibility for the actions the customer takes once that’s happened. Or are they not actually making the decision, just taking the instruction?
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This mode could definitely be integrated with a ‘drunk mode’ so I can control myself on a night out…
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Judging by the info in the blog post -
To remove the block, you’ll need to chat with customer support first. We’ll use that conversation to ask questions like, “Has your situation changed since you first switch the restrictions on?”
it sounds like they’ll encourage users to think through the decision & it’s implications before switching the block off.
There’s obviously a delicate balance to strike between still giving user’s control of their finances & helping them avoid problematic behaviour & that sounds like quite a good approach to me.
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Fantastic, Monzo are Awesome!
Features like this really stand out!
Great to see Monzo bringing ideas like this to life and with further potential ideas already being thought of 
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I’m pretty ecstatic about this!
For people working in gambling, this is extremely interesting because in this case Monzo are in a far better position to help people with gambling problems in general (as they’re not the operator in question), and I can’t help but wonder if the UKGC will end up making this a banking requirement in future 
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I hope this also includes PayPal transactions (that touch Monzo) as many gambling companies allow you to add money via PayPal. (Ladbrokes being one such example)
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This will all be dependant on whether PayPal passes the merchant code from the original transaction to Monzo.
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amazing!
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Does it also catch it if you’ve linked your PayPal to your bank account? I think they do it as a Direct Debit rather than a card payment
Although I can think those payments might be a lot harder to block 
Similar mechanisms might be helpful for people with other impulsive addiction (like alcohol) too. Although transactions related to alco might be trickier to recognise.
reposting it from the twitter thread
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Building on this idea, it’d be nice to have the option to block payments from all retailers, not just for Gambling websites. Here’s a scenario (Not from experience, I promise 
):
Shea’s on his way home from work, on his way home he has to wait for a bus, but the bus is 20 minutes away. Shea decides to head to McDonalds for a McFlurry, or a quick snack, when he eventually checks his balance half way through the month he notices he’s spent £22 on McFlurrys and snacks at McDonalds. Shea still wants to buy McDonalds, but he doesn’t want to spend that much.
Here’s what I’m suggesting.
(Human = Monzo User / Retailer = Maccy’s, Starbucks, Etc)
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Human has setup their Payday in Monzo from [20th] → [20th].
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Human makes a purchase with a retailer [retailer]
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Human clicks on the transaction and selects “Retailer Rules”
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Human selects “Max-Spend per Payday”
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Human selects budget [£15] & saves the rule.
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Human makes further transactions sucessfully up to £14.50
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Human tries to make a purchase for a £0.99 McFlurry.
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Transaction Failed: Monzo Notification: You’ve reached your spending limit with [retailer]
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Human decides they REALLY want a McFlurry, they can up the budget & retry purchase.
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(FYI: Great work on the Gambling one, I’m glad you have to contact support to lift that.)
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That’s an interesting concept! It seems like a good way of budgeting to actually know that you can’t make that next payment unless you make an active change in your account. Human likes this.
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Certain retailers like Majestic Wines or Oddbins it would be easy!