NatWest restricts cryptocurrency transfers due to fraud fears

NatWest limits the amount of money customers can transfer to cryptocurrency exchanges.

From Tuesday, customers will be able to transfer a maximum of £1,000 per day to such exchanges, and no more than £5,000 per month.

The bank says it’s to protect customers from “crypto-criminals” who try to scam them.

NatWest’s head of fraud protection Stuart Skinner said the bank had seen an increase in the number of scams linked to cryptocurrency, with UK consumers losing an estimated £329m to such crimes.

He also gave advice to help people avoid being scammed.

“You should always have sole control of your cryptocurrency wallet and no one else should have access,” he said.

“If you haven’t set up the wallet yourself or don’t have access to the money, this is probably a scam.”

In June 2021, NatWest introduced some daily caps on customer transfers to crypto exchanges, with the limits varying in size depending on the platform in question.

At the time, it cited concerns over investment scams and fraud.

Benoit Marzouk, CEO of BitcoinPoint, a crypto trading app registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said the limits imposed by NatWest were too restrictive and did not solve the problem itself.

“Banks should instead focus on educating their users about the most common scams customers fall victim to, typically ‘recovering your money’ or requiring you to pay a withdrawal fee before ‘releasing funds,'” he told the BBC.

NatWest’s announcement comes on the same day that crypto exchange Binance announced it was stopping people from depositing and withdrawing cash in pounds sterling.

Binance, which has more than 128 million customers, did not provide details on the number of customers the move would affect.

The company is working to find an “alternative solution” for pound transfers, a Binance spokesperson said.

Last month, Binance suspended all bank transfers in dollars due to an increasing crackdown on crypto by the US government.

Previously, Binance had been issued a warning by the FCA, the UK’s financial regulator.

The FCA warned consumers in June 2021 that Binance did not have “any form” of permission to offer services regulated in the UK.

The significance of sterling funding for Binance is unclear.

The company does not disclose its finances, with the core of its business – the giant Binance.com exchange – mostly hidden from public view.