One of the major retail and commercial banks in the UK, National Westminster Bank (NatWest), unveiled a gambling ban option on the use of debit cards that would provide the bank’s customers who may be problem gamblers with a “cooling-off” period of 48 hours before they are able to make such payments again.
The new feature is part of the bank’s efforts to help customers who could suffer from gambling addictions to better control their spending on gambling services.
As mentioned above, NatWest customers will be forced to wait 48 hours before they are allowed to make gambling-related payments, with all attempted transactions during that time set to be rejected automatically. The debit card will remain blocked unless a customer decides to end the ban, which would be allowed to be disabled after 48 hours.
As revealed by NatWest, the bank’s customers are able to access the gambling-related feature in their mobile banking application via the “manage my card” menu. A representative of the bank explained that the introduction of the debit card ban for gambling transactions will help problem gamblers in the UK to control their gambling habits.
In 2019, NatWest, which is currently among the leading banks in the country, joined forces with the local gambling charity organisation GamCare to provide advice, support and treatment for problem gamblers and their families experiencing gambling-related harm.
NatWest Joined Forces with GamCare to Enhance Protection against Gambling-Related Harm
As part of the collaboration between GamCare and NatWest, the bank’s support teams were provided with special training on how to recognise gambling-related harm and support people who describe themselves as problem gamblers and want to stop gambling.
Before the UK Government imposed the coronavirus restrictions, a number of the bank’s branches across the country were used by GamCare for the provision of private consultations as part of the gambling addicts support program.
As revealed by the bank, there was a decline in gambling transactions during the lockdown period earlier this year. However, NatWest revealed that with the restrictions eased across the country, a rapid increase has been registered in the number of gambling-related transactions of its customers.
The overall gambling-related spending registered in September 2020 is about 32% higher in comparison to the one in 2019.
NatWest is not the first bank unveiling such a scheme to help customers deal with their problem gambling behaviour. A similar ban on gambling transactions has been already introduced by Barclays. Under the gambling block feature, Barclays’ customers who decide to resume spending on retail gambling venues or online gambling sites or mobile apps will have to wait 72 hours before they are allowed to make such payments again. The bank automatically rejects any attempts for making a transaction during that time.
As explained by the CEO of retail banking at NatWest, David Lindberg, the implementation of the new debit card block for gambling transactions would help customers dealing with problem gambling behaviour control their spending. Mr Linberg also reminded that gambling addiction and financial struggle usually go hand in hand, so the bank’s collaboration with GamCare would make it easier for customers to get specialised help from trained specialists and get advice and treatment to deal with their problem.
- Author
Olivia Cole
