Santander UK Puts Limits on Payments to Crypto Exchanges

The U.K. unit of banking giant Banco Santander, Santander UK notified customers on Thursday of a $1,000 limit on individual transactions with crypto exchanges and a $3,000 limit on total monthly transactions.

The new policy is to take effect beginning Nov. 15.

"In recent months we've seen a large increase in UK customers become victims of cryptocurrency fraud," said the lender, adding "The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned consumers about the risks of investing in crypto assets as money held in customers’ crypto wallets is unlikely to be protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong."

There don't appear to be any limits on monies transferred from crypto exchanges back into Santander accounts.

Ominously, the bank warns of even tighter restrictions to come: "We’ll be making more changes to limit or prevent payments to crypto exchanges in the future."