Lloyds, one of the largest UK banks is trailing a ‘first of its kind’ feature for its mobile banking app customers where spending limits on gambling with their debit card can be set.
Limits Set To Suit Individual Customers’ Circumstances
The new feature allows customers who use the Lloyds mobile banking app to set personalised monthly spending limits on gambling via their debit card. The limits can be changed or cancelled anytime by the customer but will run month on month if left untouched.The aim is to provide customers with a tool to set gambling spending limits to help with budgeting and establish boundaries around gambling spending behaviour.With the cost-of-living crisis affecting many customers, a gambling spend limit makes sense, after a survey conducted by Lloyds, established more than half of participants favoured more intervention from their banks regarding gambling and welcomed the spending limit on gambling feature.
Think More About Budgets
Anna Hemmings, CEO for GamCare said, “As many households are having to think more carefully about their budgets, the launch by Lloyds of its new in-app gambling spend limit feature will give those most vulnerable to gambling harm an important means of controlling their gambling – and preventing harms from escalating.“This tool complements the range of existing support features that we recommend to people reaching out for help.”Along with the trial of the personalised monthly spending limit feature, Lloyds offers its customers the option to freeze gambling spending totally, a feature the banking giant introduced back in 2019 in conjunction with Gamban.Lloyds believe the addition of personalised monthly spending limits on gambling affords customer more budgeting control on how much they spend on gambling. Although the freeze on gambling spending has been available to Lloyds customers since 2019, the new personalised, monthly spending option allows customers to set monthly spending limits, manage their finances more efficiently, and establish boundaries in relation to spending behaviour around gambling.