[Finance] Why has this taken this long? Barclays debit card settings

[Dick Swiveller]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46512030

With all the fuss about the roulette machines in bookies, why haven't banks come up with a scheme like this until now? Not sure of the point of petrol stations and groceries but the ability to stop payments to gambling sites would seem to be a no brainer to massively reduce online gambling addiction for those willing to take the step. All depends how easy to turn back on it is, I suppose.

 

[Insel affe]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46512030

With all the fuss about the roulette machines in bookies, why haven't banks come up with a scheme like this until now? Not sure of the point of petrol stations and groceries but the ability to stop payments to gambling sites would seem to be a no brainer to massively reduce online gambling addiction for those willing to take the step. All depends how easy to turn back on it is, I suppose.

Fantastic idea, I wish more banks would follow.
I would imagine you cancel them for periods of a month or more, and if you wanted to re set them back up there would be a delay in setting them up again like 3-5 days or more, thus killing that instant hit you want and giving the person time to take a deep breath and block those sites again.

 

[vegster]

I know someone who is Bipolar and when they get a periodic high and become manic this often manifests itself as lots of diverse unneeded purchases in a short period of time. He has a control on his card that limits his spending and also the bank will notify the Crisis team that supports him when his spending pattern suddenly changes.

 

[GOM]

Fantastic idea, I wish more banks would follow.
I would imagine you cancel them for periods of a month or more, and if you wanted to re set them back up there would be a delay in setting them up again like 3-5 days or more, thus killing that instant hit you want and giving the person time to take a deep breath and block those sites again.

Is this knowledge of how it works or pure guesswork ? If guesswork then not too sure how much value this adds to your admirable first sentence.

 

[KZNSeagull]

When I used to work in the credit/debit card sector, it was the identification of the merchants that was the issue. I was told then (admittedly 25 years ago!) that VISA would never standardise merchant codes/descriptions etc on transactions but obviously they have, so good for them! I concur that this is a very good idea as long as it is accurate. We were looking at rewarding customers who spent money at certain merchants, but it would just not have been accurate enough at the time.

 

[Greavsey]

When I used to work in the credit/debit card sector, it was the identification of the merchants that was the issue. I was told then (admittedly 25 years ago!) that VISA would never standardise merchant codes/descriptions etc on transactions but obviously they have, so good for them! I concur that this is a very good idea as long as it is accurate. We were looking at rewarding customers who spent money at certain merchants, but it would just not have been accurate enough at the time.

Currently working in the sector, and can confirm this is the issue as to why it hasn't been done before, and unfortunately the data still remains pretty unreliable. But obviously Barclays are now happy enough with it to make this available...

 

[KZNSeagull]

Currently working in the sector, and can confirm this is the issue as to why it hasn't been done before, and unfortunately the data still remains pretty unreliable. But obviously Barclays are now happy enough with it to make this available...

Sounds like they may end with a lot of complaints and manual fixes to sort out then!

 

[Insel affe]

Is this knowledge of how it works or pure guesswork ? If guesswork then not too sure how much value this adds to your admirable first sentence.

Ah it seems it is a clever gimmick and does not offer those facilities as it appears you can just switch it back on

I saw this on a forum and seems in line with how i think it should be implemented

The Barclays implementation is completely ineffective. In the application on your mobile you can instantly re enable prior blocks. You invariably have your phone and card with you. On gambling sites they typically offer the option to:

1. Block until a specific date with no re-enablement being possible in the interim
2. Only allow re-enablement to take place after x days
3. Only allow re-enablement via phone call or personal visit to a shop

Can you please continue to work with Barclays to improve their offer as as is it yields very very limited protection

 

[studio150]

Ah it seems it is a clever gimmick and does not offer those facilities as it appears you can just switch it back on


Can you please continue to work with Barclays to improve their offer as as is it yields very very limited protection

It effectively offers zero protection, as I assume that if your were a problem gambler, first you would have to admit to yourself that your are, and want to stop gambling, so turn off this option on the app.

If however you just see your way out as one big win, it does nothing to assist you.

Now if you could turn off your partners card, that would be ideal. and it would also lower the profits of many shoe retailers