UK challenger bank, Monzo, introduced a gambling block in 2018, following demand from customers who wanted help controlling their use of gambling sites. Since then, most UK banks have followed Monzo’s strategy. However, while gambling blocks are effective for payments made by card, Open Banking-powered payments are often not covered. Klarna’s subsidiary SOFORT became a provider to integrate the UK’s Open Banking-powered gambling block, developed by Monzo and Truelayer in 2021, who made the update code public. This will allow Monzo to extend their gambling block to all Klarna-powered, immediate bank-to-bank payments for Monzo’s UK customers. Currently, 400,000 Monzo customers have activated the gambling block.
Klarna Kosma is an Open Banking aggregator, providing connectivity to 15,000 banks worldwide. The network powers SOFORT, one of Klarna’s direct bank-to-bank payment methods, which is used by 75,000 merchants across Europe, including some online gambling and gaming sites. Importantly, only immediate payments are allowed to online gambling and gaming sites; none of Klarna’s BNPL or other credit products can be used on gambling or gaming sites.
With the update Klarna has announced, banks connected to SOFORT will be able to identify a payment request from a gambling or gaming company and, if there is a gambling block in place, block that payment, protecting their customers.
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