coincodex.com
Key highlights:
- UK-based Starling Bank is blocking customers from making deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges
- According to the bank, the measure is temporary and has been put into effect due to "high levels of suspected financial crime with such payment"
- The bank plans to allow such payments again after it implements specific checks
Starling Bank is currently blocking crypto exchange deposits
UK-based digital bank Starling is currently blocking their customers from sending money to cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a Telegraph report.
The bank says that the new restriction is only temporary, and that it is blocking deposits to crypto exchanges because of “high levels of suspected financial crime with such payment”. According to the bank, the restriction will be reversed once it deploys new checks designed to screen payments to cryptocurrency exchanges. However, the bank didn’t provide a timeline for when customers can expect this to happen. A spokesperson for the bank told the Telegraph:
“This is not just an issue for Starling, but for all banks. We apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused for some customers; we will be reversing this measure as we roll out additional checks specifically for payments to crypto exchanges.”
The Telegraph writes that some other UK banks have also blocked some customers from depositing money to cryptocurrency exchanges, citing complaints from customers of Monzo and Barclays. However, Barclays told crypto news outlet Decrypt that it is not blocking such transactions.
The publication also spoke to Starling, and the bank clarified that even though it currently doesn’t allow users to send payments to crypto exchanges, customers are still allowed to withdraw their money from crypto exchanges to their accounts with Starling.
Like other countries, the UK is dealing with a rapid surge in interest for the new digital asset class as cryptocurrency investing makes its way to the mainstream. Recently, advertising watchdog Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) warned cryptocurrency exchange Luno that its advertisements across public transport stations in London, which said that it was “time to buy” Bitcoin, were allegedly misleading.
According to the ASA, the advertisements represented cryptocurrency investments as “straightforward and easy” which wasn’t an appropriate message for a mainstream audience. Luno responded by saying that its future ads would also contain warnings about the risks of cryptocurrency investments.