Santander is one of the most popular banks in the UK and it’s well known for its blockchain technology adoption. However, in a recent change to its policies, the bank is no longer allowing its customers to send payments to Coinbase. Customers of the bank began noticing this week that their payments were getting rejected, meaning the change has been made recently and quietly – largely owing to Santander knowing the news won’t go down well.
Santander Still Likes Blockchain Tech
Despite banning its customers from sending payments to Coinbase, Santander is still utilizing blockchain technology to power its cross-border payments. Santander is well known for using Ripple’s xCurrent platform to power transfers, and it’s even building a brand-new app on the same system that will let customers send money to anyone, anywhere in the world. Dubbed Paygo FX, it will use xCurrent to power the transfers, helping keep the price low and the speed high.
Joining the Ranks of Wells Fargo
Sadly, Santander has now joined an exclusive club of banks that are telling customers they can no longer buy crypto. Back in July, Wells Fargo went down the same path, banning all customers from spending their money on crypto. Customers first started noticing the ban when payments to the Square Cash App were being declined. Unfortunately, these big banks know the news won’t go down well with clients, so rather than announcing they’re cutting support they just do it quietly.
Apple Says No to Crypto
While it’s not uncommon for a credit card provider to ban transactions to crypto exchanges – they often view them the same as gambling – Apple has decided that it’s credit card users won’t be able to buy crypto. Trying to circumvent this restriction will likely end up with account bans. The Apple credit card strictly prohibit the purchase of cryptocurrencies, money orders, peer to peer transfers, lottery tickets, casino gaming chips, race track wagers, or anything else related to gambling.
It comes as no shock that Santander has decided to ban crypto payments, and it’s likely that we will see more banks follow suit in the months ahead. As crypto becomes more widespread and mainstream, more and more people are looking to get into crypto. Fortunately there are ways around the ban, using services such as Bisq and other peer-to-peer crypto swaps. Finaly, Santander customers can always transfer money to Revolut and then on to Coinbase, so there is always a way around the ban.
