Nationwide to block some accounts for 72 hours over Christmas | Personal Finance | Finance

Nationwide may block some members’ accounts for 72 hours this Christmas. The festive period is a joyous time for many, with lots of celebration, and socialising with family and friends.

However, for people with gambling issues this can also be a devastating time of year. A recent YouGov survey of more than 4,000 UK adults, found that three-fifths (59%) of those who experience problems due to their gambling are more likely to gamble at Christmas than other times of the year.

Nationwide is moving to help combat this, by giving customers the option to use a gambling block. Once the block is activated, it won’t be able to be switched off for at least 72 hours, meaning those using it will not be able to place any bets for three days after deactivating it.

This, Nationwide said, is a long enough time period to cover a weekend of sport – for example.

Kathryn Townsend, head of customer vulnerability at Nationwide previously said: “People need to know support is available, without judgement, should they need it. We made a conscious decision to offer a gambling block with a 72-hour cooling off period to support customers making decisions that are right for them.”

Nationwide can block card, online and in person transactions to gambling companies, and says this is even the case if your card details are already saved on a gambling website.

The block includes Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.

However, Nationwide said it cannot block the purchase of certain scratch cards and lottery tickets, depending on how the shop’s tills are set up.

It also does not have the power to block bank transfers or payments made through the internet bank, banking app or open banking, or in-game purchases in video games.