Next year, real-time payments to cryptocurrency exchanges will be prohibited by the UK bank Santander. According to an email sent to customers, the action is meant to shield customers from scammers. Beginning on November 15, mobile and online banking payments to cryptocurrency exchanges are restricted to a maximum of £1,000 per transaction and £3,000 each rolling 30-day period. The new regulations will not impact the ability of clients to withdraw money.
Santander has yet to specify exactly when the adjustment will go active in 2023, and the bank will implement the short-term restrictions outlined above.
A Santander representative claimed that in recent months, the number of UK clients falling prey to crypto frauds has significantly increased. “We want to do everything we can to protect our customers, and we feel that limiting payments to cryptocurrency exchanges is the best way to ensure your money stays safe,” the representative said.
Per the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) stringent position on the exchange, which was barred from conducting business in the UK in 2021, Santander will continue to reject payments transferred to Binance. The FCA asserted that the company cannot be effectively overseen and that consumers face a significant risk from its sophisticated and high-risk financial products.
Most of the major banks in the UK, or 47%, do not support cryptocurrencies. This group includes more recent “challenger banks,” Starling Bank, and more established high street banks like Lloyds, Nationwide, HSBC, and TSB Bank.
In August 2022, the FCA made plans to tighten its regulations on cryptocurrency advertising drastically. The regulatory body desires to bring them into compliance with the laws that apply to traditional assets like stocks and bonds.