UKGC to Educate Citizens about Gambling Blocking Tools

A new awareness campaign spearheaded by the UK Gambling Commission will seek to raise awareness about gambling blocking tools.

UKGC to Help General Public Benefit from Gambling Blocking Tools

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) remains committed to bolstering its efforts to protecting consumers, now with a new consumer guidance campaign. Aimed at the general public, the regulator seeks to raise awareness for services that allow consumers to completely block themselves out of gambling websites.

Listed under “Money and Rights,” consumers in the UK can find out more about how it’s within their consumer rights to opt-out of gambling businesses whether out of their free will or with the help of powerful tools that makes it hard for vulnerable consumers to access gambling websites, if at all.

To help guide consumers, the UKGC has provided consumers with a list of the entities that presently provide such services, including Barclays, HSBC, RBS, Santander, Lloyds, TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and MBNA.

Monzo Calls on Banks to Step Up

The UKGC has reached out to Starling and Monzo, who provide services allowing consumers to block themselves out of gambling services completely. If Monzo’s name sounds familiar this is because the company publicly addressed the government, appealing for the introductions of intuitive banking tools that allow everyone in the UK to opt-out of gambling.

The company then teamed up with TrueLayer to safeguard consumers against harmful and problem gambling. While the majority of banks in the country allow consumers to suspend particular spending habits, there are still banks that have not pioneered such solutions, leaving vulnerable players exposed.

In light of the upcoming Gambling Act 2005 review and the no small amount of flak the Commission has been taking itself, the regulator is keen to show that it only has consumers’ best interest at heart.

In July 2020, GambleAware, an NGO addressing the problems of gambling, argued that 28 million residents in the United Kingdom did not have access to a gambling blocking feature. The UK Gambling Commission campaign is hoping to address just that.