Another major retail bank in the United Kingdom has blocked cryptocurrency transactions. Following Santander and NatWest, it is now JPMorgan's British retail arm, Chase UK. Although the decision was officially made due to the increasing number of cryptocurrency-related crimes, it fits into a broader pattern where traditional institutions worldwide are increasingly making it difficult for cryptocurrency companies and investors to operate with digital assets.

Chase UK Becomes the Latest Bank to Distance Itself from Crypto

Chase UK announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it will ban all cryptocurrency transactions for its customers starting 16 October. According to the official statement, the decision is in response to a growing number of scams targeting UK consumers.

"We've seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting UK consumers, so we have decided to prevent the purchase of crypto assets on a Chase debit card or by transferring money to a crypto site from a Chase account," the Chase spokesperson commented.

The bank has already emailed its customers about the upcoming policy change. "If we think you're making a payment related to crypto assets, we'll decline it," the email stated.

While Chase UK stated in the same email that its customers can use other financial services to carry out cryptocurrency transactions, it is not as simple as it sounds. In the United Kingdom, fewer and fewer banks are willing to process transactions related to digital assets.

Chase UK has garnered over 1.6 million customers since launching its mobile app-based service in Britain two years ago. The bank also has plans to expand its consumer banking services to other international markets in the future.

Crypto Frauds Surpassed £300 Million

Chase UK referenced statistics from Action Fraud, the UK's agency for reporting fraud, revealing that consumer losses to cryptocurrency fraud in the country surged over 40% in the past year, exceeding £300 million for the first time.

In the email to customers, Chase UK mentioned that crypto-related scams made up more than 40% of all crimes reported in England and Wales last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

A year ago, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA ) informed that it had opened 432 regulatory cases concerning potential cryptocurrency scams or unlicensed operations. The report compiled data from April 2021 to March 2022.

The bank is the most recent financial institution in the UK to implement measures restricting customer access to cryptocurrency purchases. Previously, NatWest set limitations that allowed customers to transfer only up to £1,000 per day and £5,000 over a month to cryptocurrency exchanges, aiming to curb the increasing number of crypto-related fraud attempts.

HSBC and Nationwide have put comparable limitations on transactions involving digital assets in place.