Chase has cited the elevation of fraud threats as its reason for no longer accepting or engaging with crypto payments in the UK.
As the economic climate intensifies, it also marks the enhanced steps being taken by banks to strengthen their fraud-fighting strategies.
A Chase spokesperson told CNBC via email Tuesday that the group has witnessed “an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting UK consumers, so we have taken the decision to prevent the purchase of crypto assets on a Chase debit card or by transferring money to a crypto site from a Chase account”.
In an email sent to clients, the group also stated: “Customers will receive a declined transaction notification if they do attempt to make a crypto-related transaction.”
They went on to state that customer safety is at the core of these steps that have been taken.
It follows similar steps taken by some of the main banks within the UK, which have outlined the threat of crypto and taken steps to eradicate their engagement with digital currency.
In March of this year, HSBC pointed to warnings from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the reason for also taking action against crypto payments.
It came after the UK financial regulator increased regulatory scrutiny over the payments and warned of harsher sanctions for those who did not comply.
Customers of HSBC were told about the “possible risks” associated with digital assets following on from a year of several high-profile collapses within the crypto sector, most notably the fall of exchange platform FTX.
HSBC also continued action against crypto exchanges, having previously stopped credit card payments to Binance, a move that significantly impacted the exchange’s efforts in the UK market. They joined both Nationwide and Lloyds in taking a more scrupulous stance on digital assets off the back of the downfall of FTX.
