UK banks have recently become more stringent with customers who use crypto. In the past week, two of the country’s largest banks—Nationwide and HSBC—have taken action by introducing daily purchase limits and outlawing the usage of credit cards for crypto transactions.
These two banks are not the only ones; a number of other banks have also tightened their rules over the last year. Following the incident with the collapse of popular digital asset exchange FTX in November, the government has taken an even more aggressive stance.
The restrictions are meant to protect investors from crypto fraud. Santander declared that their aim is to “do everything we can to protect our customers” and that limiting payments to cryptocurrency exchanges is the best way to make sure their money stays safe.
So what are the current regulations? Here is a brief overview of which banks currently provide crypto-friendly services for retail investors.
Nationwide
Major high-street bank Nationwide announced this week that it has implemented new restrictions. “help protect you and to try and keep your money safe.” Purchases with credit cards are now outlawed and those with debit cards have daily limits of £5,000 ($5,965).
HSBC
HSBC has also taken action this week. Credit cards can no longer be used to purchase digital assets from exchanges. Those who have an HSBC account can acquire crypto with a debit card through certain U.K.-regulated platforms, but not with exchanges such as Coinbase.
The banking giant stated that they do not have any interest in Bitcoin exposure.
Lloyds
Lloyds allows customers to purchase crypto through U.K.-regulated platforms and withdraw from exchanges such as Coinbase—but only with debit cards.
It was the first bank in the U.K. to forbid their clients from buying cryptocurrencies with credit cards, back in 2018.
NatWest
NatWest Group CEO Alison Rose reported last month that they had taken a “pretty hard line as a bank on crypto.” Corporate customers that own cryptocurrencies or stocks of companies related to crypto are not allowed to open NatWest accounts.
However, personal customers can still buy and sell digital assets.
Investing in cryptocurrency can be a daunting prospect for those new to the world of digital assets. Fortunately, UK banks such as Barclays, Santander and Starling have put measures in place to curb the risk of financial harm to customers.
Barclays customers can purchase digital assets from regulated brokers, as long as they don’t try to buy or sell cryptocurrency through their online bank account. Santander customers can make single transactions up to £1,000, with a rolling 30-day limit of £3,000.
Wise customers, formerly known as TransferWise, cannot use their accounts to buy digital assets from an exchange but are able to receive money if the crypto is regulated within the UK or EU. Monzo customers can buy Bitcoin on established exchanges such as Coinbase, but the bank may block a small number of transactions based on risk.
Starling, however, has strictly banned its customers from engaging in any type of cryptocurrency-related payments.
The most crypto-friendly bank is Revolut. Users can use their mobile banking app to buy, sell and store a variety of digital assets, and the bank recently launched a staking service for Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot, and Tezos.
