09.02.2018 Views

news

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Publication Date<br />

Headline<br />

Outlet<br />

URL<br />

Snippet<br />

05-Feb-2018<br />

Lloyds Bank bans 9m customers from buying Bitcoin<br />

MSN UK<br />

Click to open<br />

LONDON — Lloyds Banking Group has become the first British lender to ban its customers<br />

from using their credit cards to purchase bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a<br />

report in the Daily Telegraph.<br />

The Telegraph reports that Lloyds will tell its 9 million credit card holders that attempts to<br />

buy digital currencies will be blocked. Debit card transactions will not be blocked, according<br />

to the report.<br />

The move will impact customers of Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and credit card<br />

firm MBNA, all of whom come under the Lloyds umbrella. Lloyds Banking Group accounts<br />

for around a quarter of all credit cards in the UK<br />

A spokesman for Lloyds said the decision was made to "protect customers" from making<br />

unaffordable losses on Bitcoin, the Telegraph said.<br />

Watch: The truth about Lloyds' 'ban' on Bitcoin (LBC)<br />

The ban will be implemented using a blacklist of major cryptocurrency sellers, which will see<br />

attempted transactions with those sellers blocked.<br />

Lloyds' ban on credit card cryptocurrency spending is the first such move from a Britishbased<br />

bank, but follows the announcement of similar bans by three major US lenders.<br />

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup have already announced similar bans.<br />

Lloyds' ban on using its credit cards to buy digital currencies comes amid a period of<br />

enormous volatility in the market. Bitcoin's price has plummeted in the last couple of<br />

months, falling from around $20,000 per coin to as low as $7,700 on Friday, with wild<br />

swings in both directions remaining a frequent feature.<br />

On Friday, bitcoin lost as much as 15% of its value during morning trading, before managing<br />

to end the trading day in positive territory.<br />

Banks are concerned that such wild swings will expose their customers to heavy losses,<br />

making them unable to repay their credit card debts.<br />

The price of bitcoin is back below the $8,000 level on Monday, roughly 2.5% lower in early<br />

morning European trading, as the chart below illustrates:<br />

Follow us on Facebook, and on Twitter Go to MSN Home More in Money Revealed: The<br />

world's highest-paid bosses Lovemoney Celebs surprising jobs Photos Up Next More in<br />

Money Home News Weather Entertainment Sport Money Lifestyle Horoscopes Health &<br />

Fitness Food & Drink Cars Travel Dating © 2018 Microsoft Privacy & Cookies Legal About<br />

our Ads Feedback Help MSN Worldwide

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!