According to Reuters, an executive at Barclays Credit Card revealed in an interview that Barclays is likely to follow the example of several major lenders in the United States: refusing to provide users credit cards to buy bitcoin or other encryption currency. Paul Wilmore, managing director at Barclays, told the Bank Innovation blog: “We are making the decision that we will likely no[t] allow cryptocurrency purchases on the card.”
Although they have not officially announced their implementation, their spokesman in London said that the bank is reviewing the enforceability of this ban on a country-by-country basis.
Credit cards from Barclays Bank and Lloyds Banking Group are all prominent in the United Kingdom, one of the largest credit card providers in the United States and the United Kingdom, with one credit card selling up to a quarter of the UK total.
However, about the promulgation of this ban, Lloyds Banking Group has to take the first step. Last week, Lloyds Banking Group officially announced the ban on the use of credit cards to buy cryptocurrencies.
In response, Lloyds, a spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group, said that they also did so to protect consumers – consumers would likely have to incur huge debts if the market value of cryptocurrencies plummeted.
Source: Reuters
