NatWest refuse to allow me to pay £5,000 to a UK bank because they don't like the transaction

PeterPuttock

I don't know whether anyone else is suffering from the same problem.... I have been a NatWest customer for over 20 years and have their black account.

I have been dabbling in trading in cryptocurrency and other currencies. And yes, it is full of scams and I am treading carefully.

I use CoinBase and Tap Global in order to convert GBP into crypto. On Thursday 16th Feb I received £382 from Tap Global which was my profits from a low spec fund. I wanted to put in £5k. I did the transaction and had to use my card reader to validate me and create the payment. I went to pay and the fraud people at Natwest stopped it. They called me. I established that I was who I said I was and thought that they would then let me make the payment. They then declared that they would not let me make the payment. I even offered to sign a declaration that indemnified them if I lost the money. But still they refuse to let me make the payment. In fact they said they would never let me make a payment to that account. I asked whether anything had flagged up about that account and bank, and they said "Nothing was wrong with the destination bank (Tap Global). They said it was the nature of the transaction that they didn't like, and so, wouldn't let it go through.

I spent nearly all of Friday on the phone trying to get to talk to someone who could actually do something. Their suggested solution was that I should go to my bank branch, draw out £5,000, go to another bank, deposit the £5,000 there and then make the payment from the other account.

I have demanded to have this in writing and no one I have spoken to claims to have the authority to do that.

So, we now have a situation where NatWest pick and choose what we can spend our money on. Oh yes, I did clarify that crypto currency is not illegal, and it was my own money.

I have now found that the banks seem to have leant on CoinBase, because they have flagged my account as not being allowed to receive GBP's, even though they have processed about 20 payments back to me over the past 2 months! I have raised 2 formal complaints... One for this and one for them miss-selling me insurance as part of my packaged account.

I think that this is of national importance and I hope you Stephen (Lewis) get to hear about this post. Call me if you want any more details.

PeterPuttock

*Martin, not Stephen! I had brain fade!

Brie

If an account is a known conduit to cryptocurrency trading the banks are right to stop a transfer.  In fact I think they are obliged to by the regulators.  It's the same to them as you using your credit card to fund bets on the ponies.  So yes they are right in telling you to try a different bank but I doubt you'll find another that will accommodate the transfer easily.

eskbanker

https://supportcentre.natwest.com/Searchable/1693188682/Payments-Cryptocurrency.htm explains their stance:

Why can’t I make the payment I want to my chosen cryptocurrency exchange?

Due to an increase in scams relating to some cryptocurrency exchanges we have taken steps to either block payments or restrict the amount you can send each day to these firms, until further notice.

[...]

Why won't NatWest allow me to purchase cryptocurrency?

We know that customers investing their money in cryptocurrency has become extremely popular. However, we are also aware of the increasing risks posed by fraudsters exploiting this trend to dupe customers out of millions of pounds per month. In addition, there have been recent regulatory warnings and announcements regarding the risks associated with cryptocurrency, particularly the lack of consumer protection.

As such, we have decided to take proportionate action to keep our customers safe and secure. This doesn't mean that we block cryptocurrency payments altogether but we will restrict payments to cryptocurrency exchanges that present the highest risk of financial harm.

Although you may have made payments to cryptocurrency exchanges previously, we continuously monitor fraud patterns and trends, adjusting our restrictions to keep you, and your money, safe and secure.

Who is the UK bank referred to in the thread title? Tap Global certainly isn't a UK bank....!

wmb194

PeterPuttock said:

I don't know whether anyone else is suffering from the same problem.... I have been a NatWest customer for over 20 years and have their black account.

I have been dabbling in trading in cryptocurrency and other currencies. And yes, it is full of scams and I am treading carefully.

I use CoinBase and Tap Global in order to convert GBP into crypto. On Thursday 16th Feb I received £382 from Tap Global which was my profits from a low spec fund. I wanted to put in £5k. I did the transaction and had to use my card reader to validate me and create the payment. I went to pay and the fraud people at Natwest stopped it. They called me. I established that I was who I said I was and thought that they would then let me make the payment. They then declared that they would not let me make the payment. I even offered to sign a declaration that indemnified them if I lost the money. But still they refuse to let me make the payment. In fact they said they would never let me make a payment to that account. I asked whether anything had flagged up about that account and bank, and they said "Nothing was wrong with the destination bank (Tap Global). They said it was the nature of the transaction that they didn't like, and so, wouldn't let it go through.

I spent nearly all of Friday on the phone trying to get to talk to someone who could actually do something. Their suggested solution was that I should go to my bank branch, draw out £5,000, go to another bank, deposit the £5,000 there and then make the payment from the other account.

I have demanded to have this in writing and no one I have spoken to claims to have the authority to do that.

So, we now have a situation where NatWest pick and choose what we can spend our money on. Oh yes, I did clarify that crypto currency is not illegal, and it was my own money.

I have now found that the banks seem to have leant on CoinBase, because they have flagged my account as not being allowed to receive GBP's, even though they have processed about 20 payments back to me over the past 2 months! I have raised 2 formal complaints... One for this and one for them miss-selling me insurance as part of my packaged account.

I think that this is of national importance and I hope you Stephen (Lewis) get to hear about this post. Call me if you want any more details.

It's not unusual that banks block transfer to crypto exchanges. In the past Barclays in particular has also been known to close customers' accounts because of it - they don't have to do business with you if they don't want to.

I doubt there's much point raging about it. Use another bank to try to make the transaction. Anyway, if you don't already, it's a good idea to have backup accounts with separate institutions.

Band7

PeterPuttock said:

*Martin, not Stephen! I had brain fade!

I am afraid, neither Stephen nor Martin Lewis will do anything "crypto". Martin Lewis is not even likely to see your post as he is not monitoring the forum.  

mab3000

PeterPuttock said:

I have raised 2 formal complaints... One for this and one for them miss-selling me insurance as part of my packaged account.

So the fact NatWest won’t make a payment for you has prompted you to make a complaint about mis sold insurance? How comes you haven’t made this complaint before now? 

This article explains why NatWest amongst other banks are restricting payments for crypto 

https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/banks-ban-crypto-payments-over-fraud-spike-aIBU91x7g4mo

km1500

I would keep crypto away from your 'main' account or indeed any other account you don't want to see frozen or closed without notice.

The solution to your problem is easy. Open an account with a crypto-friendly bank, and use that to fund your crypto dealings

Monzo have declared themselves 'crypto-friendly' and there are others...

https://www.comparebanks.co.uk/banking/crypto-friendly-banks-in-the-uk/

flaneurs_lobster

km1500 said:

I would keep crypto away from your 'main' account or indeed any other account you don't want to see frozen or closed without notice.

The solution to your problem is easy. Open an account with a crypto-friendly bank, and use that to fund your crypto dealings

Monzo have declared themselves 'crypto-friendly' and there are others...

https://www.comparebanks.co.uk/banking/crypto-friendly-banks-in-the-uk/

Revolut have been promoting themselves to me as to their crypto-friendliness. I felt sorry for them and bought a Dogecoin because I like the logo. 

I'm up on the deal.

km1500

I believe Rev. are not FSCS protected for your money £85k whereas Monzo are. Not 100% sure but check.

Rob5342

km1500 said:

I believe Rev. are not FSCS protected for your money £85k whereas Monzo are. Not 100% sure but check.

You can check here:

https://www.fscs.org.uk/check/check-your-money-is-protected/