In the United Kingdom and Barclays has announced the impending launch of a new 72-hour blocking tool that has been designed to give customers ‘additional control over their spending on gambling sites.’

The London-headquartered bank used an official Friday press release to declare that the first-of-its-kind facility is set to be rolled out ‘over the coming weeks’ and will allow account holders to institute a three-day ‘cooling off’ period where all of their attempted gambling-related transactions are to be automatically declined.

Conscientious campaign:

Barclays detailed that it first began providing patrons with the ability to block gambling transactions in December of 2018 and that this facility has since been used approximately 570,000 times including on some 187,000 occasions since the implementation from mid-March of the United Kingdom’s coronavirus-related lockdown. The giant bank also stated that the new 72-hour delay function was ‘developed from customer feedback’ in an attempt to assist responsible gambling practices and is to be automatically triggered should an account holder ever decide to opt out of an earlier prohibition against such dealings.

Growing group:

Sian McIntyre from Barclays used the press release to pronounce that the coming facility is moreover set to be made available in-branch and via telephone and will join a range of other tools that already permit customers ‘to control their spending’ by establishing spending and withdrawal limits or freezing their cards if ‘they feel like their spending is getting out of control.’

Read a statement from McIntyre…

“We are always looking for new ways to support our customers and make it easier for them to manage their finances. Customer feedback on our gambling control showed us there was more we could do to help and we’ve worked closely with them to design the solution. Our customers have told us this 72-hour time delay gives them a real pause for thought and helps when they are tempted to return to gambling.”