UK banks draw 10,000 complaints over crypto payment limits

British bank customers filed more than 10,000 complaints about crypto payment restrictions in 90 days, according to the advocacy group Stand With Crypto. Lloyds Banking Group drew the most reports. The findings landed as the government and the regulator prepare a new regime for the crypto market.

What the report recorded

Stand With Crypto, which campaigns for access to digital assets, collected 10,092 complaints through an online form. They came from 9,800 people across all 650 parliamentary constituencies in Britain. The collection ran for 90 days, from May to August.

Most complaints named Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland. The bank received 2,297, or 23% of the total. Barclays followed with 1,569 and NatWest Group with 1,278. Even Revolut appeared on the list, although the digital bank lets customers buy crypto inside its app.

The numbers come with a caveat. People chose to submit complaints, so the sample is not representative, and the count is not adjusted for each bank's share of current accounts. A higher figure does not mean that a bank's customers complain more often.

Who restricts transfers, and how

The authors sorted banks by whether they publish their rules. Institutions with published limits accounted for 61% of complaints. Banks with no published restrictions made up 28%, and those that ban transfers to crypto platforms outright made up just under 10%.

• Barclays caps a transfer at 2,500 pounds ($3,340) per transaction and 10,000 pounds over 30 days.
• NatWest and Santander also state per-transaction and monthly limits.
• Chase, Starling, TSB, Metro Bank and Virgin Money, according to the authors, prohibit such transactions entirely.

The authors called the gap between stated rules and what customers experience the main finding. Someone who wants to switch banks for steady access to crypto payments cannot work out which institution will actually let a transfer through.

Coinbase and industry groups respond

In a comment to CoinDesk from Katie Harries, head of European policy at Coinbase, the position reads: "A country cannot credibly invite innovators in while allowing banks to lock consumers out". Coinbase is registered with the FCA but faces the same blanket restrictions as the rest of the sector. Bank transfers remain a key channel for funding accounts on the platform.

The comment draws on research by the UK Cryptoasset Business Council. According to it, 40% of attempted transfers to FCA-registered exchanges were blocked or delayed over the past 12 months. A majority of exchanges, 70%, said conditions with banks were tougher than a year earlier.

Banks have grounds to screen such transfers because of fraud and money laundering risks, and the report does not dispute that. SWC still considers blanket bans disproportionate, since controls should assess the individual customer and the individual transaction. Harries also said in the comment that banks should look at each case separately instead of blocking the whole sector.

Government stance and the authors' proposals

Britain announced its support for the industry in 2023, when Rishi Sunak was still chancellor of the exchequer under the Conservatives. The Treasury repeated that line less than a year ago under Labour, at the level of economic secretary Lucy Rigby. The government and the FCA are preparing a full regulatory regime for crypto firms, but bank restrictions can shut customers out even from regulated venues. SWC proposes that banks publish clear explanations of their rules and give customers a real way to challenge a blocked transfer.

The dilemma is familiar to Ukrainian users too, since whether a payment from a Visa or Mastercard card in hryvnia reaches an exchange service or a crypto exchange also depends on the rules of a specific bank.