How to block gambling transactions on Monzo

A UK app bank whose gambling block is the most flexible one published by any bank we checked — you choose the cooldown yourself, up to a year. This page covers Monzo current account and Monzo debit card.

Checked against Monzo's own help pages and card agreements on August 24, 2026 · compiled by Cashout

The short answer

Yes. Monzo has an opt-in gambling block: Home → the three dots beside your card → Manage account → Gambling block. You set it yourself, from 2 days to 1 year. It declines card payments to any business using the gambling merchant category code. Monzo: “Every time you use your Monzo card, the business you're paying sends us a code that tells us what kind of service they provide. Gambling companies use a specific category code.”

How do I turn on the Monzo gambling block?

1 Open the Monzo app and tap the three dots at the bottom right corner of your card on the Home screen
2 Tap Manage account, then Gambling block
3 Set your cooldown period — anywhere from 2 days to 1 year. This is the number that matters: it is how long you will have to wait if you later try to switch the block off
4 Confirm. The block is on immediately; only the removal is delayed
5 If the menu has moved, message the support team in-app — Monzo's own gambling page says the team will turn it on with you and explain how it works

Do it in the bank's own app — monzo.com/gambling-block is Monzo's own page on it.

How do I turn off the Monzo gambling block?

Cooling-off: You set it yourself, from 2 days to 1 year. Monzo: “If you choose to turn the block off, you must wait out your cooldown period before we lift the block.” You cannot shorten the cooldown during it either — changing the cooldown setting is itself blocked until it expires. And if you have ever talked to Monzo's team about your gambling, you cannot switch the block off in the app at all: you have to message them, and they will ask “a few friendly, non-judgmental questions” first.
You set it?: Yes — you choose the length when you switch the block on. Pick the longest one you can stomach; you will not get another chance until it expires.
What it covers: Card payments to any business using the gambling merchant category code. Monzo: “Every time you use your Monzo card, the business you're paying sends us a code that tells us what kind of service they provide. Gambling companies use a specific category code.”
Launched: June 2018

If you are here to switch it off: you can start that now, but you cannot finish it now. The block comes off at the end of the cooling-off period above and not a minute sooner, and no amount of messaging support shortens it — that is the entire reason the feature exists. Switching the block on is instant. Only switching it off is slow.

Worth saying plainly, because you already know it: the urge that sent you looking for this will be gone long before the cooldown is. What to do with the next twenty minutes is the more useful page if that is where you are.

What doesn't it cover?

Bank transfers, unless you ask. Monzo is explicit: “These blocks are only for card payments. But if you'd like to block other payments, like bank transfers, just let us know.” Send that message in the same sitting — a transfer to a betting account or a crypto exchange is the obvious way round a card block.
Miscoded merchants. Monzo: “sometimes transactions aren't tagged with the correct information, meaning these transactions bypass any blocks, and if this happens you'll still be charged.” Tell Monzo when one gets through and they will look at adding that merchant, but they cannot reverse the payment.
Deposits routed through a crypto exchange. Buying crypto is a normal card purchase to the coding system — the gambling code never appears, so the block never fires.
Money moved to a second account at another bank and spent from there.
Cash. An ATM withdrawal followed by a cash deposit at a betting shop involves no gambling-coded transaction at any point.

What should I do alongside the Monzo block?

In this order, tonight, while the resolve is there.

1 Turn the block on with the longest cooldown you can stomach, not the shortest. The delay is the entire product.
2 Message the team in the same session and ask them to block bank transfers too, and to lower your daily card and withdrawal limits — Monzo lists both as things its team will do, but neither is self-serve.
3 Add GAMSTOP, which shuts you out of every online gambling site licensed in Great Britain at once. Monzo links it from its own gambling page.
4 Put a device blocker on top for the offshore and crypto sites no register or card code reaches.

Is a bank block enough on its own?

No — a card control stops a payment method, not an account, and there is always another payment method. The setup that holds is layered: ban yourself from the betting apps, GAMSTOP and the other national self-exclusion schemes, and a gambling blocker on your devices. The full method is in the guide to blocking gambling transactions at your bank. If you want the number that makes the case, work out what this is costing you a year.

Money in more than one place?

A block on one card just moves the spending to the next one. Do every account you hold, in the same sitting.

Or see every bank's gambling block compared .

Frequently asked questions

Does Monzo have a gambling block?

Yes. You turn it on at Home → the three dots beside your card → Manage account → Gambling block. Card payments to any business using the gambling merchant category code. Monzo: “Every time you use your Monzo card, the business you're paying sends us a code that tells us what kind of service they provide. Gambling companies use a specific category code.”

How do I turn off the Monzo gambling block?

You can request it, but it does not come off on demand. You set it yourself, from 2 days to 1 year. Monzo: “If you choose to turn the block off, you must wait out your cooldown period before we lift the block.” You cannot shorten the cooldown during it either — changing the cooldown setting is itself blocked until it expires. And if you have ever talked to Monzo's team about your gambling, you cannot switch the block off in the app at all: you have to message them, and they will ask “a few friendly, non-judgmental questions” first.

What doesn't Monzo stop?

Bank transfers, unless you ask. Monzo is explicit: “These blocks are only for card payments. But if you'd like to block other payments, like bank transfers, just let us know.” Send that message in the same sitting — a transfer to a betting account or a crypto exchange is the obvious way round a card block. Miscoded merchants. Monzo: “sometimes transactions aren't tagged with the correct information, meaning these transactions bypass any blocks, and if this happens you'll still be charged.” Tell Monzo when one gets through and they will look at adding that merchant, but they cannot reverse the payment. Deposits routed through a crypto exchange. Buying crypto is a normal card purchase to the coding system — the gambling code never appears, so the block never fires.

Is a bank gambling block enough on its own?

No. A card block stops the payment, not the account — so pair it with GAMSTOP, which shuts you out of every online gambling site licensed in Great Britain at once, and a device blocker for the offshore and crypto sites no register reaches.

The Monzo block is one layer. Here are the other four.

Operator bans, your state's self-exclusion program, device-level app blocking, and a panic button for the urges in between — Cashout sets all of it up with you, in order. Launching soon on iOS; the waitlist gets in first.