Chase Bank UK has notified its customers of plans to halt crypto payments for its British customers from October 16.
Chase, the US banking giant, has announced that from October 2023, customers will not be able to make payments related to cryptocurrency using their debit cards or bank transfers.
Chase halts crypto payments
Chase Bank UK has notified its customers of plans to halt crypto payments for its British customers from October 16.
The decision was made known via an email. The email highlighted the surge in fraud and scams using digital assets and cryptocurrencies as the reason behind the decision. They noted that customers funds protection is paramount to them. .
“From 16 October 2023, if we think you’re making a payment related to crypto assets, we’ll decline it. If you’d still like to invest in crypto assets, you can try using a different bank or provider instead — but please be cautious, as you may not be able to get the money back if the payment ends up being related to a fraud or scam,” the email stated.
Crypto-related frauds have been on the top list of financial institutions in the UK with the watchdog being at the centre of the push. According to data from the UK’s fraud reporting organization Action Fraud, consumer losses to cryptocurrency fraud in the UK have risen by more than 40% in the past year and now total more than £300 million ($365 million).
“We’ve made this decision because fraudsters are increasingly using crypto assets to steal large sums of money from people. Declining these payments is one of the ways we’re helping keep you and your money safe,” it added.
Read more: Banking giant HSBC is working with crypto custody firm Fireblocks
FCA interventions
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK principal financial regulatory body has recently said that it is facilitating discussions between banks and crypto firms to help the latter secure banking services.
Chase action follows similar actions by Nationwide and HSBC in the UK. Nationwide announced earlier this year that it would restrict customers from using their credit cards to pay cryptocurrency exchanges and impose a £5,000 daily spending cap on current account transactions involving cryptocurrencies.
NatWest introduced additional restrictions on the daily and monthly amounts that customers can send to cryptocurrency exchanges in March.
However, Lloyds adopted a more practical stance, telling the committee that if any of its clients chose to invest in cryptocurrencies, it would make sure they did so in the safest manner possible.
Spain’s Santander announced last year that it would prevent UK customers from sending real-time payments to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Disclaimer: CryptoPlug does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
