JPMorgan Chase set to ban crypto transactions

Due to an upsurge in fraud and scams, JP Morgan’s British retail bank, Chase, will begin to prohibit any cryptocurrency transactions made by customers on October 16.

A corporate spokeswoman said the bank was “committed to helping keep our customers’ money safe and secure” after the information was made public on Tuesday.

The bank reportedly stated, “We’ve seen an increase in the number of cryptocurrency 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.”

Although a number of other British banks have imposed limitations on transactions involving cryptocurrencies, this step represents one of the first complete bans on the asset.

Consumer losses due to cryptocurrency fraud have increased by 40% in the last year, topping £300 million for the first time, according to data from the British fraud reporting agency Action Fraud.

Since launching the mobile app-based service in Britain two years ago, JP Morgan has added more than 1.6 million clients to its Chase retail bank. The company has ambitions to gradually roll out the consumer bank in additional international countries.

According to Reuters, NatWest (NWG.L) set additional restrictions on the daily and monthly amounts customers can send to cryptocurrency exchanges in an effort to safeguard them from “crypto-criminals.”

As part of measures to safeguard clients against scams, Spain’s Santander announced last year that it would prevent UK customers from transmitting real-time payments to cryptocurrency exchanges.