U.K Banks Intensify Crypto Purchasing Limits For Customers

• Nationwide Building Society has imposed a daily limit of £5,000 on debit-card purchases of crypto assets. 
• U.K’s largest bank HSBC has banned its customers from purchasing 
•  with credit cards. 
• The banks have cited warnings issued by financial regulators as the reason for their decisions. 
• Nationwide Building Society will not allow its customers to send funds to the crypto exchange Binance. 

Banks in the United Kingdom are ramping up the limits imposed on their retail customers when it comes to interacting with crypto assets. Nationwide Building Society has become the latest bank to enforce a limit on the amount of crypto that a customer can purchase using their debit cards. 

Nationwide Building Society will not allow payments to Binance

According to a recent update by the Nationwide Building Society, crypto purchases through debit cards will be limited to £5,000 per day. The banking giant will not allow its customers to buy crypto assets through credit cards. The world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, was specifically named in the advisory, which stated that any payments to the exchange will be declined. The payments to Binance will remain restricted until further notice. 

Nationwide followed in the footsteps of U.K’s largest bank HSBC, which has imposed similar restrictions on its customers. A report from Bloomberg revealed that the bank has barred its customers from buying crypto through credit cards. These banks have joined the likes of Banco Santander and Lloyds Banking Group, both of which have placed crypto-specific restrictions on their customers. The banks have cited warnings issued by the U.K’s Financial Conduct Authority, as the reason for their decisions. 

There are certain risks with purchasing cryptocurrency, as highlighted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). We’ve set up these restrictions to help protect you and to try and keep your money safe.”

Nationwide Building Society

The development in the U.K.’s banking and regulation landscape for crypto is similar to what is being seen in their American counterparts. Earlier this year, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a joint statement for banking organizations, warning them about the risks associated with crypto assets.