Does Chime block gambling transactions?

What can Chime actually stop?

A documented control to consider: Disable transactions / freeze card.

Where it is

Chime app → Settings → Account Settings → turn off Allow transactions (or freeze a card from the Cards section)

What it stops

Chime: disabling transactions “immediately prevent[s] new debit or credit card purchases or ATM withdrawals.” It applies to the whole card, not to a category.

What still gets through

Chime says freezing a card blocks new transactions, but recurring and pending payments may still go through. To stop a recurring merchant charge for good, Chime tells you to contact the merchant and have your payment details removed.

Undo delay

No gambling-specific delay is documented in the sources reviewed. Confirm the unlock rules for your account.

What doesn't it cover?

• No merchant-category control of any kind, so there is no way to decline gambling while leaving groceries alone.
• Turning transactions off blocks everything, which is exactly why nobody leaves it off — and a control you turn back on within the hour is not protection.
• Recurring and pending payments, which Chime says may still go through.

What works instead at Chime?

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

1. 1 Self-exclude from every betting app you hold an account with. This is the step that actually holds, and Chime cannot do it for you.
2. 2 Enroll in your state's self-exclusion program where one exists.
3. 3 Ask each operator to delete your card details, since Chime says a freeze does not reliably stop a recurring charge.
4. 4 Add a device blocker so the apps and sites are unreachable.
5. 5 Keep the balance somewhere else. On a Chime account there is nothing between money in the account and a deposit except a switch you control.

Is a bank block enough on its own?

A card control does not close a gambling account or necessarily restrict other payment methods. Consider combining it with: ban yourself from the betting apps, your state's self-exclusion program where one exists, 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?

Check controls on each account you hold; restrictions on one card do not automatically apply to another.

• USAA: card controls and alternatives
• Does PNC block gambling transactions?
• Blocking gambling transactions on Monzo
• TSB gambling block: steps and cooling-off period

Or see every bank's gambling block compared .

Frequently asked questions