UK and US banks ban credit card purchases of Bitcoin

Source: Xinhua | 2018-02-06

BANKS in Britain and the United States have banned the use of credit cards to buy Bitcoin and other “cryptocurrencies”, fearing a plunge in their value will leave customers unable to repay their debts.

An LBG spokesman said the ban was across its Lloyd Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA branded credit cards.

In a brief statement, he said LBG does “not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of cryptocurrencies.”

Over the past few days, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan each introduced the same ban.

There is a concern that customers who bought Bitcoin late last year when crytocurrencies in general surged in value have been left with big losses following massive declines in recent weeks.

Yesterday, the price of Bitcoin tumbled to US$7,950, two months after breaking through the US$20,000 mark.