Signage outdoors a Chase financial institution department in San Francisco, California, on Monday, July 12, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Chase UK, the British challenger financial institution model of JPMorgan, has blocked prospects within the U.Ok. from buying crypto belongings.
The firm mentioned in an announcement Tuesday that, beginning Oct. 16, Chase UK prospects would “no longer be able to make crypto transactions via debit card or by outgoing bank transfer.”
“Customers will receive a declined transaction notification if they do attempt to make a crypto-related transaction,” the financial institution mentioned in an electronic mail to shoppers.
“This has been done to protect our customers and keep their money safe.”
The firm mentioned it was taking the step as a result of “fraudsters are increasingly using crypto assets to steal large sums of money from people.”
Chase UK cited information from Action Fraud, Britain’s fraud reporting company, that confirmed U.Ok shopper losses to crypto fraud elevated by over 40% within the final 12 months, surpassing £300 million for the primary time.
Crypto scams accounted for greater than 40% of all reported crimes in England and Wales final 12 months, in accordance with the Office for National Statistics, Chase UK mentioned within the buyer electronic mail.
Chase UK is the newest financial institution within the nation to take steps to restrict the power of their prospects to buy cryptocurrencies.
NatWest imposed limits on its prospects which meant they may solely ship a most of £1,000 per day and £5,000 over a 30-day interval to crypto exchanges, in an effort to sort out the rise in fraud makes an attempt involving crypto.
HSBC and Nationwide have introduced comparable restrictions on crypto-linked purchases.
“We’re committed to helping keep our customers’ money safe and secure,” a Chase spokesperson advised CNBC by way of electronic mail Tuesday.
“We’ve seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting U.K. 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.”
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Source: www.cnbc.com”