Gambling block on your bank account: bank by bank
Almost every UK current account now carries a switch that declines card payments to gambling companies. Flick the switch and casino deposits fail at the cashier. Ask to have the block lifted and you wait two or three days. This guide reads each bank's own page along with GamCare's bank-by-bank table, so you know what each block covers, what it misses, and how long the wait is.
By Ewan Prescott · Last checked: 3 September 2026
What a bank gambling block is
This is a free setting on a debit card that tells the bank to decline any payment to a merchant coded as gambling. It applies online, in betting shops and through Apple Pay and Google Pay, and the block costs nothing.
The block is offered by the bank, so the casinos have no say in it and never see it. When a deposit is blocked, the cashier shows a declined card. GamCare, which runs the National Gambling Helpline, keeps the reference list: twenty banks and wallets offered a block in its March 2025 table, and it describes the product as "an extra layer of friction to help stop yourself from gambling", best used alongside self-exclusion and blocking software.
Two elements distinguish it from the casino-side tools covered elsewhere on this site. A deposit limit caps how much you can deposit at a single casino. GAMSTOP closes your accounts with every licensed operator. Additionally, a bank block stops the money leaving your account for any gambling merchant at all, licensed or not, and it is the only one of the three that lives outside the gambling industry.
Credit cards are a separate issue. Since 14 April 2020 no Gambling Commission licensee may accept a credit card for gambling, consequently most banks no longer offer a block on them. Nationwide's page makes this clear: "The law changed in April 2020 to stop all UK licensed gambling operators from accepting them, meaning the block is not needed."
How the block works
Every card payment includes a merchant category code. Gambling companies use the gambling code, the bank sees it, and the payment is refused before the money is transferred.
Nationwide explains the technology: "Gambling companies assign themselves a gambling MCC which allows us to identify any transactions to them as gambling and stop the payment before the money is transferred." Starling says the codes that let it categorise your spending "are the same ones that allow us to identify gambling establishments". Monzo says "We use standard bank codes to spot and block payments to gambling businesses."
This design has both benefits and drawbacks. Anything correctly coded as gambling is declined regardless of which company it is, whether it is a UK licensed casino or not. Anything not carrying the code is allowed through, and the section on what the block misses names the cases the banks themselves disclose.
The block switches on instantly at every bank that publishes a time. Halifax says it "instantly blocks payments to gambling retailers". TSB says "the block takes effect straight away". NatWest sends a notification "that your card has been locked for gambling websites". The friction is all on the way out, which is by design.
Gambling block on your bank account: bank by bank
Set-up routes and cooling-off periods are from the banks themselves, or from GamCare's table dated 17 March 2025. Metro Bank is included because its page describes a card freeze in lieu of a block.
| Bank | Where to switch it on | Wait to lift it | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barclays | App: Your cards, then Card limits and controls; phone; branch | 72 hours | First high-street block, December 2018; the 72-hour delay came in September 2020. You "will still be responsible for any transactions we weren't able to stop". |
| HSBC UK and first direct | App: Manage Cards; phone; branch | 72 hours | Raised from 24 hours in 2020 after customer feedback. |
| Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland | App: Manage card, then Card freezes and limits, Gambling toggle; phone; branch | 48 hours | Also lets you set a monthly gambling spending limit on the debit card. No gambling on the group's credit cards. |
| NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank | App: Manage my card, then Card payment controls, Gambling toggle | 48 hours | Blocks recurring gambling payments and online lottery tickets. Its own list of what it will not stop is the fullest on the high street. |
| Nationwide | App or internet bank: Gambling controls | 72 hours, "even over the phone or in branch" | Stays on through a replaced card. FlexOne accounts block gambling by default. |
| Santander | App, for debit Mastercard; secure chat | 48 hours | Can also cut the daily cash-machine limit to £0 or £60. Credit cards refuse gambling outright. |
| TSB | App: Manage Cards; internet banking; branch; phone | 48 hours | Covers Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. Not available on credit cards or some account types. |
| Monzo | App: Limits and Controls; chat | You choose, 2 days to 1 year, when you switch it on | Also blocks open-banking payments from providers that have integrated. Less than 10% of users have ever switched it off permanently. |
| Starling | App: Cards, then Gambling controls | 48 hours | Apply it to each card separately. Removing it shows you the helpline number. |
| Chase | App: See card, Manage card, Card controls, Gambling | 48 hours, after speaking to customer care | Will not block supermarket lottery tickets or cash from a casino ATM. |
| Revolut | App | 48 hours | Revolut's own help page could not be read at the time of writing; figure from GamCare. |
| PayPal | App or website | 72 hours | Figure from GamCare. Relevant because several bank blocks do not see gambling paid through a PayPal balance. |
| Danske Bank | Phone; branch | 72 hours | Monthly gambling spend limit available. Figures from GamCare. |
| Allied Irish Banks | Phone | 72 hours | Figure from GamCare. |
| Zempler Bank | App; phone | 48 hours | Figure from GamCare. |
| Metro Bank | Card freeze in the app | None: unfreezing "instantly allows you to continue" | No dedicated gambling block. The freeze stops every card payment, and the bank can transfer you to a GamCare adviser. |
Cooling-off periods across the 20 blocks GamCare lists
How long gambling payments stay declined after you ask for the block to be removed.
Source: GamCare, Everything you need to know about bank gambling blocks, 17 March 2025, cross-checked against each bank's own page where one was readable.
Lifting the block: the cooling-off period
You can always ask. The bank always makes you wait. That wait is the whole point of the tool, and the banks say so in almost the same words.
"The cooling-off period is the time between switching off your bank gambling block, to when your bank continues to allow gambling transactions. This period is usually 48-hours or 72-hours, depending on the bank. The decision to gamble can often be impulsive, so this is an extra step to provide you with time to reflect on your decision."
GamCare, Everything you need to know about bank gambling blocks
Santander calls the delay "a little more time to reflect". Barclays, which introduced its 72-hour version of the pause in 2020, said customers appreciated the delay because it "gives them a real pause for thought". The design of the blocks was informed by research from the Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol, which reviewed the blocks for GambleAware and concluded that they "need to include 'positive friction' in the form of 'cooling-off' periods" to be effective.
Nobody at the bank can shorten the delay. Nationwide: "We are unable to turn the block off any quicker, even over the phone or in branch." Based on trade coverage of its launch, the delay on the block at Starling Bank cannot be circumvented by contacting customer services or reinstalling the app. Two banks add a conversation before the countdown starts. Chase asks customers to contact its customer care team first, and Monzo's original design required a chat with support, where staff might ask whether "your situation [has] changed since you first switched on the restrictions".
Monzo's current version turns the pause into a choice. You get to choose the length of the cooldown when you switch the block on, and it can be as long as a year: "if you choose to turn the block off, you must wait out your cooldown period before we lift the block". By choosing the longest option available, you have built something close to a self-exclusion on the payment side.
What the block does not stop
Every bank page provides a list of exceptions, and they overlap. If money can reach a casino without a card payment coded as gambling, the block does not see it.
- Bank transfers, Direct Debits and open banking. NatWest's block will not "stop non-card gambling payment methods such as bank transfers or open banking payments". Monzo's block is "not designed to block bank transfers or Direct Debits you set up yourself", however it now catches open-banking payments where other providers have integrated with Monzo.
- PayPal and other wallets. NatWest states that its control will not "stop access to gambling sites using PayPal or other e-wallets". Nationwide states that PayPal payments are "usually stopped" but sometimes go through. Monzo states that wallets pass "if they don't pass the gambling code to us". PayPal has its own block with a 72-hour cooling-off period, which is the solution.
- Merchants using the incorrect codes. Nationwide states that "There's a possibility that a gambling company may use the wrong MCC. In that case we wouldn't block any transaction to them." Barclays states that you are still responsible for what it was not able to stop. GamCare states that you should report payments that get through the blocks.
- Cash and lottery purchases in-store. Chase names supermarket lottery tickets and "cash withdrawals from casino ATMs". NatWest includes buying lottery tickets in person and "competition or prize-draw type websites". Santander and Lloyds Banking Group offer cash withdrawal limits for exactly this issue.
- Crypto. Monzo notes that digital tools and crypto purchases use a different code, MCC 5815, "so they might still go through". Nothing on this site is paid for in crypto, but the gap is real.
- Payments already set up. NatWest will not "block any gambling payments made before the Card Control was applied".
The summary from GamCare is the one to remember: blocks are "applied at card level", meaning "if you have multiple cards, blocks will need to be set up for each card". Starling says the same about multiple accounts. With a block on one card and an open wallet on another, this is a block in name only.
What it does to deposits, withdrawals and daily prizes
The block declines payments out. Every bank page describes it that way and none describes it touching money coming in. That asymmetry dictates what happens at a casino.
Card deposits fail
A debit card deposit at any casino carries the gambling code, so it is declined at the cashier. That includes Apple Pay and Google Pay at every bank that mentions them.
Withdrawals are credits
A payout is money arriving, and the banks describe the block as declining payments, so a withdrawal to the same card is outside its scope. If one is stuck, our withdrawal pending guide covers the usual reasons.
Free prizes keep working
A daily wheel or reel that needs no deposit is unaffected, because nothing is paid. Prizes gated behind a fresh deposit or a stake that day cannot be unlocked while the block holds.
Which gates bite
BetMGM's wheel needs one lifetime £10 deposit, Monopoly's picks need a deposit, and Betfred's upgraded reel needs £10 staked the day before. Existing balances still count, so a block does not stop play; it stops topping up.
The existing-customer offers list shows which daily prizes are free to claim and which require a deposit, which is the most important consideration once a block is on. The PayPal casinos list matters for the opposite reason: a funded PayPal wallet is the most common way around a bank block, so if the block is meant to hold, put PayPal's own block on as well.
Joint accounts, children and someone else's gambling
You can only block your own card. That rule is the same at every bank, and GamCare explains what it means for households.
On a joint account, "each person has to set up their own gambling block". An application cannot be made for a partner, a friend or an adult child "unless you have power of attorney", and a power of attorney holder who applies a block will find it lands on their own card as well. NatWest notes that its control stops transactions "made by you and any additional cardholders", which is the only means of covering a second card on the same account.
No application is needed for anyone under 18. GamCare says banks "should automatically block gambling transactions on under-18 accounts, but do speak to the bank if you find that isn't the case". Nationwide's FlexOne account for younger customers blocks gambling by default, and TSB offers its block to customers "18 or over" because younger cards are already restricted.
If you are affected by someone else's gambling, the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 supports family and friends as well as the person gambling, and Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Santander and Metro Bank all say their staff will talk to you about your own finances in confidence.
Setting it up so it actually holds
- Every card, every bank, every account. Blocks are applied per card. List every debit card, wallet and second account you hold, and switch the block on for each one.
- Add PayPal's own block. It has a 72-hour cooling-off period and closes the gap most bank blocks leave open.
- Choose the longest cooling-off available. At Monzo, set the cooldown to the longest period you can live with rather than the default.
- Reduce the cash limit. Santander will take a daily cash-machine limit down to £0 or £60. Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Barclays offer withdrawal limits. Cash is the block's oldest blind spot.
- Layer it. GamCare's advice, which can be found on the Monzo, Halifax and Nationwide pages, is bank block plus GAMSTOP plus blocking software. Each of the three fills the gaps left by the others.
- Report leaks. Tell the bank if a gambling payment went through. Monzo says it will "try to update our system to block that merchant in the future", and GamCare says the merchant may be using the wrong code.
Sources for this bank block guide
Every figure is attributed to at least one of the documents. Casinos and regulators change them without warning, so be sure to check the live page before using the figures.
- GamCare, Everything you need to know about bank gambling blocks, 17 March 2025: the bank-by-bank table, cooling-off periods, card-level blocks, joint accounts, under-18s and wrong merchant codes.
- Halifax, Support with gambling and Bank of Scotland, Gambling help: the instant freeze, the 48-hour removal, monthly limits and no gambling on credit cards.
- NatWest, Gambling support (the Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank pages carry the same text): the card control steps, the 48-hour rule and the list of what it will and will not stop.
- Nationwide, Gambling support: the 72-hour rule, merchant category codes, PayPal, replacement cards, FlexOne and the credit card law change.
- Barclays, Barclays introduces a 72 hour delay to its gambling block feature, 11 September 2020, and its merchant control and gambling support pages.
- HSBC UK, HSBC UK increases gambling block feature to 72 hours: the rise from 24 hours and the April 2020 credit card ban.
- Santander UK, Gambling help: the 48-hour delay, debit Mastercard set-up and the cash limit options.
- TSB, Gambling support: set-up steps, instant effect and wallet coverage.
- Monzo, gambling block help, How to block gambling spending from your Monzo account (19 June 2018) and We're extending our Open Banking gambling block (12 January 2022): the chosen cooldown, what the block cannot do, the support conversation and the open-banking coverage.
- Starling Bank, Gambling help and support: the 48-hour delay and per-card set-up.
- Chase UK, Adding a gambling block: the steps, the customer-care call and the 48-hour delay.
- Metro Bank, Gambling support: the card freeze and GamCare transfer.
- Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, Bank card gambling blockers: a story of progress, University of Bristol Personal Finance Research Centre, 14 October 2020: the case for cooling-off periods.
A bank block costs nothing and takes a minute. If you have read this far wondering whether you need one, the honest answer is usually yes, and the helpline below can talk it through.
GamCare, 0808 8020 133 GambleAware GAMSTOP Our safer gambling pageRead next
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