Chase Bank, a digital bank owned by the investment bank JPMorgan, will restrict all cryptocurrency-related transactions for its customers in the United Kingdom.
Starting from Oct. 16, customers of Chase Bank in the U.K. will no longer be able to make crypto transactions using their debit cards or through outgoing bank transfer, a spokesperson for the firm told Cointelegraph on Sept. 26.
“Customers will receive a declined transaction notification if they do attempt to make a crypto-related transaction,” Chase Bank said in a statement.
According to the bank’s representative, Chase has decided to enforce new cryptocurrency restrictions due to an “increase in fraud and scams” related to crypto assets. The spokesperson referred to data from Britain’s fraud reporting agency, Action Fraud, indicating that U.K. consumer losses to crypto fraud surged more than 40% in the last year. According to the agency, the losses in the U.K. surpassed 300 million British pounds, or $365 million.
“This has been done to protect our customers and keep their money safe,” the Chase spokesperson stated, adding:
“We’re committed to helping keep our customers’ money safe and secure. 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.”
Chase Bank originally announced its policy changes around crypto in an email to customers on Sept. 26. “We’ve made this decision because fraudsters are increasingly using crypto assets to steal large amounts of money from people,” the bank said in the email.
Related: Breaking victim ‘trust’ in scammer is key to beat crypto scams, exchanges say
Some Chase users online subsequently reported receiving the email about Chase’s crypto policy changes on X (formerly Twitter). Many commenters expressed outrage about Chase’s decision to limit one’s freedom to use crypto under the disguise of investor protection.
“We are banning computers because fraudsters use them,” one Bitcoin enthusiast wrote, adding: “Back to pen and paper!”
Chase Bank just banned crypto pic.twitter.com/prbWNKrG0G
— Interstellar (@InterstellarBit) September 26, 2023
Chase Bank is a digital bank offering fee-free banking via its mobile app. Operating more than 4,600 branches around the world, Chase reportedly amassed more than 50 million active users around the world. The latest restrictions will only impact around 2% of Chase’s total users worldwide as Chase UK’s userbase reached 1 million people last September after its launch in 2021.
