LONDON (Reuters) – JPMorgan’s British retail bank Chase has announced that it will ban cryptocurrency transactions made by customers starting from October 16. The decision comes as a result of an increase in fraud and scams related to cryptocurrencies, the company stated on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the bank explained, “We’ve seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting UK consumers, so we have taken the decision to prevent the purchase of crypto assets on a Chase debit card or by transferring money to a crypto site from a Chase account.”
Chase is the latest financial institution in the UK to restrict customers’ access to cryptocurrencies, reflecting ongoing concerns over their use in online scams carried out by criminals.
JPMorgan’s Chase retail bank has attracted over 1.6 million customers since it launched its mobile app-based service in Britain two years ago. The bank plans to expand its consumer bank to other international markets in the future.
The bank sent an email to its customers on Tuesday morning, informing them of the upcoming policy change. Earlier in the day, crypto media outlet Coindesk had reported on the move.
Other banks have previously implemented measures to protect customers from cryptocurrency-related fraud. For instance, in March, NatWest imposed new limits on the daily and monthly amounts that customers can send to crypto exchanges. Similarly, in an effort to safeguard customers from scams, Spain’s Santander announced last year that it would block UK customers from making real-time payments to crypto exchanges.
Reporting on the JPMorgan announcement are Iain Withers and Tom Wilson. The news was edited by Susan Fenton and Christina Fincher.
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
