Barclays (Barc)One of the largest banks in the United Kingdom, said that it would prevent customers from using their credit cards to buy a cryptocurrency by the end of the week.
The London-based company will block cryptocurrency transactions on its Barclaycard brand payment cards from June 27, a website page published Wednesday. The page cited “certain risks” when buying crypto.
“We do this because a drop in the price of cryptographic assets could lead customers to find themselves indebted that they cannot afford to reimburse,” said the page. “There is also no protection for cryptographic assets if something is wrong with a purchase, because they are not covered by the financial services and financial services remuneration system.”
The FSCS reimburses up to 85,000 pounds ($ 116,000) To customers who lose money if an institution covered by the program fails.
Although banks prevent customers from using their credit cards to buy crypto is nothing new, it is not clear why Barclays has set up this restriction now. The rival institutions of the country and the HSBC did something similar in March 2023 at a time when the injuries of the collapse of several cryptographic companies in 2022 were still fresh.
The bank has not provided other comments on this question when contacted by Coindesk.
CORRECT (June 25, 16:37 UTC):: Correct acronym for the financial services remuneration regime in the fourth paragraph.
