Barclays’s new feature allows customers to block payments to gambling companies

Barclays has introduced a new feature that would allow customers to block payments to certain retailers. The feature will be a great help to problem gamblers in their resistance against compulsive gambling. With the new tool, Barclays customers can block transactions at supermarkets, restaurants, takeaways, bars, and petrol stations as well as bookmakers and gambling sites.

Users can now block websites and phone lines by simply pressing a button on Barclays mobile banking app.

Barclays introduced the feature after its competitor Monzo launched a similar feature in the summer in a bid to “prevent financial problems caused by gambling, rather than trying to support people once they’ve already happened.”

Barclays has become the first mainstream bank to make the move, hoping to protect the UK’s 340,000 problem gamblers and 1.7 million people at risk of racking up thousands of pounds in debt and putting them at risk of damaging their mental health.

 “We are always looking for new ways to support our customers and make it easier for them to manage their finances. This new control feature is the latest new service that we have introduced in the Barclays Mobile Banking app that aims to give all of our customers a better way to manage their money in a simple, secure and effective way.” concluded Catherine McGrath, managing director at Barclays.