San-Francisco-based bank Wells Fargo has declared that it will ban its customers from purchasing cryptocurrency using its credit cards, Fortune reported on June 11.
The third largest bank by assets in the US, Wells Fargo said that its customers are now forbidden from purchasing digital currency on their credit cards issued by the financial institution.
A bank spokesperson said that the decision was made in order to steer clear of “multiple risks” linked with cryptocurrency usage:
“Customers can no longer use their Wells Fargo credit cards to purchase cryptocurrency. We’re doing this in order to be consistent across the Wells Fargo enterprise due to the multiple risks associated with this volatile investment. This decision is in line with the overall industry.”
However, the spokesperson of Wells Fargo added that the bank “will continue to evaluate the issue as the market evolves.”
A lot of other financial institutions have been known to decide on banning the purchase of cryptocurrency with their credit cards. The list of banks which bar customers from buying crypto with their credit cards has been growing globally. In February, three banking giants J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup announced they would no longer permit credit card purchases of cryptocurrency.
J.P. Morgan Chase even said that financial institutions could “face the risk that technologies, such as cryptocurrencies could disrupt payment processing and other services.”
In Canada, the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), one of the largest banks in North America, announced in an email statement to customers that it is banning the purchase of cryptocurrency with credit cards. The bank said the measures were taken “to serve and protect our customers, as well as the bank.”
India’s HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private bank, reported to its clients that the debit and credit cards could not be used to purchase cryptocurrency in order to protect customers. Such restraining measures were also supported by the largest UK bank, Lloyds Banking Group, and Virgin Money, which is present in Australia, South Africa, and the UK.
