Lloyds Bank to ban credit card owners from buying cryptocurrencies
[BENGALURU] Lloyds Banking Group said on Sunday it would ban its credit card customers from buying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
"Across Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA, we do not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of cryptocurrencies," a company spokesman said.
Britain's biggest mortgage lender will ban its credit card customers from buying Bitcoin amid fears that they could run up huge losses, the Telegraph reported earlier on Sunday.
The company will block any attempts to buy bitcoin with a credit card starting on Monday, but digital currencies could be purchased with debit cards, the newspaper said.
Credit card customers of the bank will be blocked from buying bitcoin online through a blacklist that will flag sellers, according to the Telegraph.
The company fears that credit card owners will buy bitcoin hoping to make a profit when its value goes up, but will be laden with debt if its price falls, the paper reported.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has said Britain should take a serious look at digital currencies such as bitcoin because of the way they can be used by criminals.
Digital currencies plunged on Friday, with bitcoin at one point sliding below US$8,000 and headed for its biggest weekly loss since December 2013, amid worries about a global regulatory clampdown.
REUTERS
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Banking & Finance
JPMorgan talking with investors about two synthetic risk transfers
HSBC says growing Chinese wealth fuels client investments in US
Money laundering accused Su Baolin to plead guilty after being handed 3 more charges
UBS flags 'serious' concern about new Swiss capital requirements
OCBC should put its properties into a Reit and distribute the trust’s units to shareholders
Lloyds bank says quarterly profits sink on higher costs