British retail bank Chase, owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co., said on Tuesday it would ban customers from cryptocurrency trading from October 16 due to an increase in fraud and scams.
“We have seen an increase in the number of cryptocurrency scams targeting UK consumers, so we have decided to block the purchase of crypto assets through Chase debit cards or the transfer of funds from Chase accounts to crypto websites,” a spokesperson for the bank said.
Chase has become the latest UK bank to restrict its customers’ use of cryptocurrencies amid long-standing concerns about their use by criminals in online scams.
JPMorgan’s Chase retail bank has attracted more than 1.6 million customers since launching its mobile app-based service in the UK two years ago, with plans to roll out consumer banking in other international markets over time.
Chase notified customers of the planned policy change via email Tuesday morning, the bank confirmed. Cryptocurrency outlet Coindesk reported the move earlier Tuesday.
In March, NatWest (NWG.L) imposed new daily and monthly limits on the amount of money customers can send to cryptocurrency exchanges in an effort to protect consumers from “cryptocurrency criminals.”
Spanish bank Santander said last year it would stop British customers from sending instant payments to cryptocurrency exchanges as part of measures to protect customers from fraud.
Last month, payments giant PayPal announced that it would stop allowing UK customers to buy cryptocurrencies through its platform starting in October, as the company works to comply with new rules on cryptocurrency promotions.
Britain’s financial regulator will introduce tougher rules to limit how cryptocurrencies can be promoted to British consumers, including requiring cryptocurrency companies to issue warnings about the risks and scrapping “refer a friend” bonuses.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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