The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland is pleased to learn that Bank of Ireland, one of Irelands biggest retail banks has announced that they will now offer gambling blocking facilities to customers wishing to avail of this facility.
The Gambling Regulator has had engagement with the Irish Banking Culture Board, Irish Banking and Payments Federation and individual banks over the past number of months to encourage as many banking groups as possible to try and implement this facility as a consumer protection measure for their customers suffering from gambling harm or wanting to take a break from gambling.
This means that Bank of Ireland now join AIB, EBS and Revolut in offering their customers this gambling blocking facility. We expect that other main banks will also offer this facility in the future. The GRAI offers practical advice on ways in which to limit exposure to gambling including bank blocking, gambling blocking software and limiting advertising online, available on our website here.
Many licenced operators also offer exclusion systems for customers that want to step back from gambling and the GRAI will be founding and administering the National Gambling Exclusion Register.
The establishment of a National Gambling Exclusion Register is an important step forward in helping people experiencing gambling harm. At present the GRAI is in the process of advancing IT systems and arrangements to support the technical side of the Register.
Following establishment of the GRAI in March, we are now focusing on getting the National Gambling Exclusion Register developed and in place so that it will be operational as soon as possible. The obligation on online operators to interact with the register is a licensee obligation.
For more information on Gambling Safety please click here
For the full BOI announcements please click here
