As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rise in popularity and their prices swing wildly, so too are they entering the consciousness of mainstream financial institutions.
Not only are big banks looking at the applications of bitcoin and the blockchain technology attached to it, so too are they worrying about the impact the volatility could have on their customers.
This is particularly true when it comes to people using credit cards to speculate on bitcoin.
Although there is only anecdotal evidence of this, there is believed to be a growing number of people maxing out their credit cards to buy cryptocurrencies in the hope that their price will appreciate.
Banks are concerned that wild swings in cryptocurrency prices will expose their customers to heavy losses, making them unable to repay their credit card debts.
As such, some lenders have barred their customers from using credit cards to buy cryptocurrencies, with American banks JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup leading the way. A number of UK banks have now followed suit, but which ones?
Business Insider asked all the UK's major high street banks for their positions on allowing customers to buy cryptocurrencies on credit. Check them out below.
Lloyds Bank: BANNED
"Across Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA, we do not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of cryptocurrencies."
A spokesman for Lloyds said the decision was made to "protect customers" from making unaffordable losses on Bitcoin.
Barclays: ALLOWED
"We constantly review our protections for customers as a responsible bank and lender, and are keeping this matter under close review.
"At present UK customers can use both their Barclays debit card and Barclaycard credit card to purchase cryptocurrency legitimately. We take precautions to assess affordability before extending credit, flag and prevent any suspicious transactions and also closely monitor credit risk."
Royal Bank of Scotland: ALLOWED
"We constantly review transactions but do currently accept credit card transactions for cryptocurrencies," a spokesperson for the RBS group told Business Insider.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
from Strategy http://ift.tt/2G1nnma
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment