Users to Block NAB Credit and Debit Card Gambling Transcriptions

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

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Last updated: March 2, 2020

National Australia Bank (NAB), one of Australia’s predominant Big Four banks, has extended the deployment of a feature that helps users to block NAB credit and debit card gambling transactions.

Dollar bills ©NikolayFrolochkin/Pixabay

The function was first launched out for the NAB iOS app in December 2019 and is now also available on the Android app. Over 10,000 consumers have agreed to the limitation since December, according to the bank.

Before the gambling block functionality was available in-app, NAB consumers were able to contact customer support to block transactions. The ban— which refers to sports betting, casino games, lottery tickets, and online gambling — can also be disabled by consumers through the app, a reform that takes 48 hours to come into effect once it’s activated.

NAB’s extended gambling block functionality follows a movement of both candidates and neobanks to improve their Personal Finance Management (PFM) resource lineups. In November 2019 HSBC added a self-restraining gambling block tool. Then in 2018, UK-based neobank Monzo launched a gambling block option that was in use as of September 2019 by 140,000 of its 2 million customers. A merchant block was also tested by the neobank beta to allow consumers to limit spending on individual retailers.

Aside from the gambling block, NAB has added PFM apps in recent months, including “My Goals which helps consumers to monitor their spending expectations, and a feature that sends SMS notifications when credit card bills are expected.

Empowering Financial Health Will Develop Loyalty

Providing resources that empower the financial health of consumers will enable existing banks to develop loyalty, particularly when neobanks are gaining traction due to their low-interest rates.

Financial management tools are in demand and it might be particularly attractive to have a feature that imposes unique spending constraints. For example, 60 percent of mobile banking users who answered to Business Insider Intelligence’s US Mobile Banking Competitive Edge Report 2019 (Enterprise only) said that their credit or debit card’s ability to set spending limits would be “very” or “highly” important, while only 9 percent said it wouldn’t be worth it.

A financial management tool that can restrict where consumers spend and not just how much they spend could be attractive to buyers interested in helping customers reduce their expenses.

Financial Management Apps Will Minimize Neobanks’ Growing Threat

In Australia, fairly high-interest rates from neobanks make their accounts particularly interesting — pressuring incumbents to step up their services with value-added features. For example, if $10,000 were deposited to a Big Four bank, it will collect interest ranging from $55 to $85 over a two-year cycle, compared to $460 for the same balance and duration in the high-yield savings account of neobank Xinja, according to a recent Fintech Futures survey.

In fact, despite the fact that NAB’s $424 billion in customer deposits overshadow every neobank’s deposits, the Big Four is still supposed to take note of the pace at which neobanks are increasing their deposits. If the neobanks can not reach interest rates, these incumbents will need to look elsewhere to create customer loyalty. Attempting to incorporate convincing financial management apps could be one of those ways to help them keep consumers and minimize neobanks ‘ growing threat.