There seems to be something of a trend developing in which major UK banks directly offer measures to their customers to help them guard against getting into problem gambling scenarios. Several major banks – Santander Bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Lloyds Bank – this week announced measures to allow users to block their own debit card use for any of a number of transaction types, including gambling. The move follows Barclays’ introduction of similar measures last month.
The banks plan to adapt the technology for use with credit cards, as well.
Any such measure is a welcome one in the gambling industry, where several major operators have had significant recent failings over their self-exclusion systems. National problem-gaming support charity GambleAware has already spoken out in favor of such measures.
Simply having a card block for any such types of spending seems an excellent measure to have available, although presumably the ability to easily remove the block may keep it from being that substantial of a game changer for some entrenched problem gamblers.
RBS has also suggested they will go further in their efforts to help potential problem gamblers who bank with them, indicating they plan to offer direct assistance to customers struggling with gambling spending.
