Managing your gambling spend
If you want help managing your gambling, you can turn on our optional gambling block in the Monzo app.
You can also chat to our support team. We can help you turn it on, explain how it works, or point you toward external support groups if you'd like.
The scale of the problem
Around 2 million people in Great Britain experience harm caused by gambling. Around 300,000 people are gambling to a degree which compromises, disrupts, or damages family, personal or recreational pursuits, and a further 1.8 million are identified as gambling at elevated levels of risk.
If you're concerned with your own gambling, or you're being affected by the experience of someone close to you, then we're here to help.
How the block works
Every time you use your Monzo card, the business you're paying sends us a code that tells us what kind of service they provide. Gambling companies use a specific category code.
When you turn the block on, we’ll automatically block card payments to any companies using this gambling code.
Unfortunately, sometimes transactions aren’t tagged with the correct information, meaning these transactions bypass any blocks, and if this happens you’ll still be charged. If you let us know, we'll look into adding the merchant to the gambling block, and add it if possible, or explore alternative methods of support for you.
Turning the block on and off
You can turn the block on yourself in the app at any time. If you ever want to turn it off, you’ll need to wait out the cooldown period that you’ve set.
When you turn the block on, you set up a cooldown period (from 2 days up to 1 year). If you choose to turn the block off, you must wait out your cooldown period before we lift the block.
If you’ve chatted to our team about your gambling before, you’ll need to message us to turn the block off. We’ll ask a few friendly, non-judgmental questions to check if your situation has changed and how we can best support you.
Time to cool down
Gambling block will stay on unless you decide to turn it off. If you change your mind, you’ll need to wait out your cooldown period before being able to unblock gambling.
You’ll choose a cooldown period when you turn on gambling block. This can be anything from 2 days to 1 year, giving you the time you need to make sure you’re making the right decision.
Once you set a cooldown period, you have to wait it out before any changes can be made to either your cooldown period settings or gambling block status.
After you wait out your cooldown period, you’ll be able to turn off gambling block from the app yourself. You can always turn gambling block on again.
Extra support
We know that spending more on gambling than you want to can impact your peace of mind and your finances. We’re here to help.
Other Monzo tools you can use
Lower your spending limits: Ask our team to lower your daily card or withdrawal limits.
Share with us: Let our team know about your circumstances so we can give you personalised support - Share with us
External support services
The block works best alongside other tools, such as:
- GamCare: You can talk to a specialist advisor for free, confidential advice and coping tools.
- GAMSTOP: A free service that lets you block yourself from logging into all UK online gambling apps and sites at once.
- GamBan: Blocks access to thousands of gambling websites and apps worldwide.
- Other banks and payment providers: If you have accounts with other banks or payment apps, ask what support they offer. They may have gambling blocks, spending limits, or other tools that can help.
Our campaign to improve gambling protections for everyone in the UK
In 2018 we researched, developed and launched a feature that allows our customers to block gambling transactions. It was the first of its kind, offering a friction based banking tool to help people with gambling addiction to self exclude. Now around 90% of banks offer this feature, and over 700,000 Monzo customers have used it. We teamed up with charities, academics and NHS clinicians to ask the government to make sure everyone can access a gambling block, no matter who they bank with. The government published their plan for reform in High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age. We are committed to being part of industry conversation to understand how collectively we can play a role in gambling harm prevention.