UK Banks Hit With 10,000 Complaints Over Blocked Crypto Transfers in 90 Days: Report

UK bank customers sent 10,092 complaints about blocked or restricted transfers to crypto exchanges over 90 days, crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto said in a report published on Tuesday.

The complaints were filed by 9,803 people between May and August 2026 through an online tool run by the group, and concerned transfers to platforms registered with the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial regulator. They came from every one of the UK’s 650 parliamentary constituencies, the group said in a tweet.

Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland, received the most, with 2,297, or more than 22% of the total, even though it has no published policy restricting crypto transfers. Barclays received 1,569 and NatWest Group, which includes Royal Bank of Scotland, 1,278. HSBC UK also received more than 1,000, according to the report, which does not give its exact total. Virgin Money and the Co-operative Bank received the fewest, with 103 and 76 respectively. Decrypt has reached out to Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC UK for comment.

Six banks publish limits on crypto transfers, according to the report. Barclays caps them at £2,500 per transaction and £10,000 every 30 days, NatWest at £1,000 a day and £5,000 every 30 days, and Santander UK at £1,000 per transaction and £3,000 every 30 days. Starling, TSB, Chase UK, Metro Bank, Virgin Money and the Co-operative Bank block crypto transfers entirely.

“The protection of our customers’ funds is our highest priority,” a Barclays spokesperson told Decrypt. “Like many other banks, we’ve introduced limits on payments to cryptocurrency exchanges to help protect customers from crypto-related scams and losses.”

A spokesperson for NatWest referred to a statement on the bank’s website, which highlights a “growing risk from fraudsters,” exploiting the popularity of cryptocurrency. “To help protect our customers and keep their money safe and secure, we took the decision to block or limit online banking, debit card transactions and mobile app Faster Payments identified as going to cryptocurrency exchanges from 16th March 2023,” the bank said.

Banks that apply limits received 6,198 complaints, while those with no published policy, Lloyds and Revolut, received 2,842. Banks with outright bans received 989, which the report suggests may be because their customers know not to try.

“A customer cannot reliably use their bank’s published policy to predict whether they will be able to transfer their own money to a crypto asset platform,” the report said.

The figures are not weighted by each bank’s market share, since the number of current accounts each offers is not public, and customers could complain to more than one bank.

The UK’s crypto regime

The report cites a 2025 FCA and YouGov survey in which 13% of UK crypto users said they had faced problems withdrawing crypto to their bank account, the most common negative experience reported. Its findings also echo a January survey by the UK Cryptoasset Business Council, which estimated that banks were blocking or delaying around 40% of transfers to the country’s 10 largest exchanges, with one exchange seeing close to £1 billion in declined transactions over a year.

Some restrictions date back years. TSB has banned crypto purchases since 2021, and Barclays blocked crypto purchases made with its credit cards from June 2025. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has pledged to outlaw banks from denying services to customers over their involvement with crypto if he becomes prime minister.

Lawmakers have also taken up the issue, though their focus has largely been on crypto businesses rather than individual customers. Parliament’s Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group launched an inquiry in July into crypto firms’ access to bank accounts and services, which also covers the transfer limits and payment blocks banks impose. In August, its co-chairs, Labour MP Gurinder Singh Josan and Lord Vaizey of Didcot, wrote to the chief executives of every major UK bank asking how they treat crypto firms and what limits they apply to crypto-related transactions. Access to banking services “could be one of the single biggest barriers to growth” for UK crypto businesses, they warned.

Stand With Crypto called on banks to replace blanket restrictions with risk-based, case-by-case checks, to publish plain-language policies on when crypto transfers may be blocked, and to give customers a way to challenge or opt out of controls on transfers to FCA-registered providers.

It also urged the FCA and HM Treasury to state publicly that sector-wide blocks and hard caps on transfers to registered or authorized crypto firms are unlikely to be justified by anti-fraud or financial crime rules. The FCA’s crypto regime comes into force next year, and firms that have secured authorization “should have assurance” they will not face blanket barriers from other regulated firms, the report said.