NEW YORK (AP) โ Chase UK, JP Morgan's British digital bank, says it will ban customers from cryptocurrency transactions starting next month, citing a rise in scams and fraud.
Starting Oct. 16, Chase customers will no longer be able to make crypto transactions using their debit card or via an outgoing wire transfer, the bank said Tuesday.
โIf we believe you are making a payment related to crypto assets, we will decline,โ Chase said in an email to customers. "If you still want to invest in crypto assets, you can try using a different bank or provider, but be careful as you may not be able to get your money back if the payment ends up related to fraud or scam."
In a statement to The Associated Press, Chase said Tuesday's decision was made to help keep customers and their money safe. The bank also noted increases in crypto fraud-related losses reported by UK regulators in the last year.
According to London RPC Law Firm, data from British fraud reporting agency Action Fraud shows that the value of crypto fraud in the United Kingdom increased by 41% last year, reaching a record 306 million pounds ($372.3 million). He FTC cryptocurrency exchange collapses in November In particular, it caused a sharp increase in fraud reports, RPC said when it shared the findings in May, and the numbers decreased somewhat in early 2023.
Still, crypto fraud will likely remain high for the foreseeable future, RPC partner Dan Wyatt and senior associate Christopher Whitehouse said by email. They noted that while investors are learning more about how to spot scams, those scams are also becoming increasingly sophisticated, particularly among scammers who use artificial intelligence to their advantage. And when cryptocurrency values โโbegin to rise again, there will likely be an influx of market activity.
The AP also reached out to Action Fraud for a statement Tuesday following Chase's decision to block customers from making crypto transactions.
JPMorgan Chase launched its UK-based digital bank under the Chase name in September 2021. As of May this year, Chase had more than 1.6 million customers in the UK.
Chase UK is not the only bank that has changed its crypto policies over fraud concerns in recent years. In March, for example, British bank NatWest implemented new daily and monthly limits on cryptocurrency exchanges (of 1,000 and 5,000 pounds (about $1,200 and $6,100), respectively), while similarly citing the need to protect consumers from scams.
Other banks have blocked customers' ability to use their accounts for cryptocurrency-related activities, Wyatt and Whitehouse added.
โThis action is publicly driven by the desire to help save customers from themselves, that is, making it harder for customers to participate in the crypto markets and therefore less likely to fall victim to scamsโ , they wrote. "But there is a second, equally important factor: reducing the risk for banks of their customers falling victim to scams and then turning to their banks for help and, potentially, reward as well."
