On Sunday, 04 February 2018, the Lloyds Banking Group Plc revealed about its plans on putting a ban on “its credit card customers” to buy Bitcoin or any other form of cryptocurrencies. An email from the company spokesperson, stated:
“Across Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA, we do not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of cryptocurrencies”.
Lloyds Bank is the “biggest” in the mortgage lending industry of Britain, whereby the company’s ban of “credit card customers from buying Bitcoin” shows its fear of running into “huge losses”. From Monday, 05 February 2018, Lloyds Bank will introduce the ban and “block any attempts to buy Bitcoin with a credit card”, although newspapers inform that the use of debit cards for purchasing “digital currencies” do not come under the ban.
Furthermore, the Telegraph reported that the customers using credit cards will be “blocked” from online purchase of Bitcoin, whereby sellers will be flagged by a blacklist. Lloyds Bank is afraid that the customers that own credit cards may purchase Bitcoin, during the time when the price is high, and hope to make a profit; however, once the price falls, they could be “laden with debt”.
Moreover, the Prime Minister of Britain has asked the country to “take a serious look” at bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as they could be used for criminal activities. While Reuters added:
“Digital currencies plunged on Friday, with Bitcoin at one point sliding below $8,000 and headed for its biggest weekly loss since December 2013, amid worries about a global regulatory clampdown”.
References:
reuters.com
“Across Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA, we do not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of cryptocurrencies”.
Lloyds Bank is the “biggest” in the mortgage lending industry of Britain, whereby the company’s ban of “credit card customers from buying Bitcoin” shows its fear of running into “huge losses”. From Monday, 05 February 2018, Lloyds Bank will introduce the ban and “block any attempts to buy Bitcoin with a credit card”, although newspapers inform that the use of debit cards for purchasing “digital currencies” do not come under the ban.
Furthermore, the Telegraph reported that the customers using credit cards will be “blocked” from online purchase of Bitcoin, whereby sellers will be flagged by a blacklist. Lloyds Bank is afraid that the customers that own credit cards may purchase Bitcoin, during the time when the price is high, and hope to make a profit; however, once the price falls, they could be “laden with debt”.
Moreover, the Prime Minister of Britain has asked the country to “take a serious look” at bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as they could be used for criminal activities. While Reuters added:
“Digital currencies plunged on Friday, with Bitcoin at one point sliding below $8,000 and headed for its biggest weekly loss since December 2013, amid worries about a global regulatory clampdown”.
References:
reuters.com