UK’s Third Largest Bank NatWest Has Set a Daily Limit of £1,000 for Crypto Deposits

The bank asserts that the limits will shield consumers against crypto assets that might result in life-altering amounts of money.

National Westminster Bank (NatWest), a prominent UK-based financial institution, has limited the money its clients may spend on crypto purchases to decrease their exposure to the volatile asset class.

According to a report by Bloomberg, NatWest account users may now move a maximum of £1,000 ($1,215) per day or £5,000 per month into cryptocurrency exchanges.

By market capitalization, NatWest, the third-largest bank in the United Kingdom, said the move would protect its clients from “wasting life-changing amounts of money” on crypto investments and frauds.

The bank reported that scammers are exploiting false promises of large profits to seduce investors, playing on their ignorance of cryptocurrency and its volatility to convince them to send funds to cryptocurrency exchanges.

NatWest’s head of fraud prevention, Stuart Skinner, said that the growth in frauds using crypto exchanges compelled the bank to set limitations to safeguard its clients.

“Criminals exploit a lack of understanding of how cryptocurrency markets operate and their unpredictability to convince investors to transfer funds to exchanges,” NatWest said in a statement. 

In June 2021, NatWest temporarily restricted the amount of cryptocurrency clients may transfer to cryptocurrency exchanges owing to the increasing rise of investment fraud and scams.

At the time, NatWest also restricted transactions to several crypto companies that posed a fraud-related risk to its clients.

It is important to note that NatWest is not the only UK bank that has lately placed client limitations. Earlier this month, CryptoPotato revealed that several big banks have prohibited or placed more significant crypto spending limitations on customer accounts.

HSBC has lately prohibited customers from acquiring cryptocurrencies with credit cards, citing potential hazards, while Nationwide bank has placed a daily limit of £5,000 on digital asset debit-card transactions.