According to Reuters, February 5, the United Kingdom, and the United States Bank has banned customers to use credit cards to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, because of fear of their plunge in value will result in customers unable to repay their debt. Following the U.S. banking giants JP Morgan and Citigroup, Lloyds British Virgin Islands and Virgin Finance (UK banking and financial services firms) said they would also ban clients from buying cryptocurrencies on credit cards.
A spokeswoman for Rice Bank said the move aims to protect consumers from the huge debt (if the value of the virtual currency plunges) because of the virtual currency purchases.
However, other banks said on Monday Monday that they will continue to allow customers to buy encrypted currency on credit cards.
A spokesman for Barclays Bank said: “We constantly review our protections for customers as a responsible bank and lender, and are keeping this matter under close review,” Barclays is the UK’s leading credit card issuer Business, its market share of about 27%.
Barclays spokesman said: “At present UK customers can use both their Barclays debit card and Barclaycard credit card to purchase cryptocurrency legitimately.”
BBVA, the second-largest bank in Spain, said it has no restrictions on such purchases.
A spokesman for MasterCard International, the world’s second-largest credit card international organization, said allowing credit card users to buy cryptocurrencies is a decision made by the issuing bank on credit risk.
A spokesman for Chase & Co. said a credit ban on cryptocurrencies has not yet been processed due to market fluctuations and risks, and Citi spokesman confirmed a similar ban, but no reason was given.
These bans apply only to credit card purchases, and debit card users can still purchase cryptocurrencies.
A Lloyds Bank spokesman said in an e-mail: “Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax Bank and MBNA Bank do not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of cryptocurrencies.”
