Crypto: More than 10,000 complaints against UK bank restrictions

Crypto ambition collides with the bank counter. Stand With Crypto UK has identified 10,092 complaints filed by 9,803 people in 90 days, regarding blocked or limited payments to crypto platforms. Its report, “Blocked: Britain’s Crypto Access Problem”, highlights the difficulties in accessing exchanges in the United Kingdom. These testimonies collected via an activist tool, however, constitute an indicator of discontent, and not an exhaustive measure of bank refusals.

Key Points

Stand With Crypto UK has recorded more than 10,000 complaints in three months, based on voluntary procedures.

NatWest caps crypto payments at £1,000 per day and £5,000 over thirty days.

Santander applies a limit of 1,000 pounds per transaction and 3,000 pounds over thirty days.

Fraud reimbursement obligations strengthen incentives to control transfers, without imposing a general blocking of crypto platforms.

More than 10,000 complaints to access crypto platforms

The Stand With Crypto UK report brings together the approaches of customers facing banking restrictions. The organization, which defends the digital assets sector, presents these results as an access problem beyond isolated disputes.

The perimeter nevertheless deserves clarification. These complaints are not decisions of the Financial Ombudsman, nor the results of a representative survey of all UK customers. Their number depends in particular on participation in the campaign and the size of the establishments concerned. It therefore does not allow a payment rejection rate to be calculated.

The restrictions, on the other hand, are well documented. At NatWest, payments to exchanges remain limited to 1,000 pounds per day and 5,000 pounds over thirty days. A transfer below the ceiling may also be subject to additional controls.

Santander UK sets a maximum of 1,000 pounds per transaction and 3,000 pounds over a rolling thirty-day period. These limits concern in particular transfers made from applications, online services or in branches.

However, not all policies have remained static since 2023. Chase UK's current page allows payments from its app to an account held by the customer with an FCA-registered UK company. It provides for ceilings of 1,000 pounds per day and 5,000 pounds over thirty days, while refusing crypto purchases by card. Talk of a total ban therefore remains inaccurate today.

Fraud prevention complicates access to crypto

Banks mainly cite the risk of fraud to justify these controls. Since October 7, 2024, the British system has required the reimbursement of certain authorized transfer frauds, known as APPs: the victim validates a payment themselves after having been deceived.

This protection can reach 85,000 pounds per file. It concerns eligible UK transfers made by Faster Payments or CHAPS, subject to conditions. It does not constitute general insurance covering investments or losses in cryptocurrencies.

The system reinforces the financial interest of establishments in detecting scams. However, it does not explain, on its own, all the restrictions: NatWest had announced its ceilings in March 2023, before it came into force.