Personal Gambling Spend Limitations From Bank of Scotland

Bank of Scotland is the latest UK bank to let customers set a limit on how much they can use their debit card to gamble each month.

Customers who use the Bank of Scotland mobile app can set a monthly debit card gambling limit of any amount up to the nearest whole pound. This limit can be used to make purchases online, in person, or over the phone.

The move builds on a test of the feature done in November by Lloyds, which is a sister company to Bank of Scotland.

Both lenders already let their clients put a full stop to their gambling spending. Customers can remove the block whenever they want, but they have to wait 48 hours before they can spend money on gambling again. Both debit and credit cards have the “freeze” service, but right now, you can only set a limit on debit cards.

The Scottish Health Survey found that more than half of Scottish adults gamble (not including the National Lottery) and that 0.3% of them have a “problem” with it.

Anna Hemmings from the charity GamCare says:

“As many households are having to think more carefully about their budgets, the launch by Bank of Scotland of a new in-app gambling spend limit feature will give those most vulnerable to gambling harms an important means of controlling their gambling – and prevent harms from escalating.”