Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of NatWest’s announcement of a 48-hour gambling block for debit cards to reduce gambling-related harm; and what action they are taking to encourage other companies in the banking sector to adopt similar policies.

The government recognises the important role banks can play in helping their customers monitor and manage their gambling spend. Last year the then Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport convened a roundtable of banks and other stakeholders in the financial sector to encourage them to do more in this regard and ministers have since corresponded with industry leaders on this issue. I am pleased that many banks have acted to offer their customers the option to block gambling transactions from their accounts and welcome NatWest’s introduction of a 48 hour gambling block.

Research published by the University of Bristol in July this year estimated that debit card gambling blocks are available for roughly 63% of UK current accounts but we encourage those banks that have not yet developed these kinds of services to do so. We also encourage banks to follow best practice in the design of their blocks, for instance including a sufficient 'cooling off' period.