A Barclays customer in Scotland has claimed the bank blocked access to his account after he made two transactions to purchase bitcoin.
The customer, who wanted to remain anonymous, wrote about his encounter beneath the username Apollo Moonwalker on reddit.
He has since revealed to CoinDesk that he bought bitcoin by means of Bitstamp and Local Bitcoins in the initial week of December. He claimed he sent about £100 every single time, initial by means of a SEPA payment to BitStamp and then a bank transfer to a seller on Neighborhood Bitcoins a week later.
Following generating the second transaction by means of Regional Bitcoins, he said he could no longer access his account through world wide web banking, adding:
“My net banking was immediately shut off as quickly as I tried to make this distinct payment and I couldn’t log on, but when I phoned [Barclays] they had me confirm each transfers.”
The customer said he was automatically logged out of Barclays’ world wide web banking platform and received an error notice saying: “Error RP309 you have been blocked from Barclays On the web Banking.”
He claimed that he attempted to login once more by means of his telephone, but was unable achieve access.
The consumer’s world wide web banking remained blocked for 3 days, from 6th to 9th December, he said. He claimed that he had to location two half-hour telephone calls and a pay a visit to to a Barclays branch to get the matter resolved, adding:
“It was not a easy matter to get fixed. I have no idea what I would have accomplished if this happened when I was out of the country 3 weeks ago.”
The buyer, who works in the oil and gas industry, added that he had experienced similar restrictions to his web banking when he had previously performed transactions abroad.
Nevertheless, he noted that it had been less difficult to regain access to his account’s net banking in those instances, typically requiring a 1 30-minute phone call to the bank.
When CoinDesk contacted Barclays for clarification, a press officer stated the matter would be looked into, but declined to comment on-record.
A search on Barclays’ on-line banking support pages revealed no results for the error code, nor factors why the customer was automatically logged out of the platform.
The Barclays client added that he had completed a lot of purchases by means of Bittylicious and Regional Bitcoins in the previous with no any restrictions.
Bitcoin in the UK
Bittylicious is a UK marketplace that makes it possible for folks to sell bitcoin and feathercoin to buyers through bank transfer. Bittylicious customers can acquire cryptocurrencies employing Barclays’ Pingit mobile payment app. The app, which lets clients send and get money from people and companies, is obtainable to the public and is not restricted to Barclays account holders.
The Barclays customer’s post about his experience on reddit has attracted 151 comments to date. The leading comment study:
“Banks are scared and already creating the identical mistakes that the music business produced 15 years ago.”
UK Banks have been cautious about dealing in bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency remains unregulated here. Moreover, bitcoin exchanges in the UK have faced difficulty finding banks prepared to do business with them.
Tom Robinson, the founder of bitcoin exchange BitPrice, has mentioned that discovering a bank to function with is a single of the major reasons he hasn’t launched his service yet.
Another higher-profile exchange, Coinfloor, recently had to delay a significantly-hyped launch date.
One particular cause UK banks have treated bitcoin with caution is due to the digital currency’s uncertain status right here. Regulators have struggled to realize the cryptocurrency.
For example, the tax authority lately met UK bitcoin lobbyers to gather details so that it could rethink its earlier selection to classify the cryptocurrency as a payment voucher, which would attract a 20% value-added tax to every transaction.
Barclays image by means of Shutterstock
View Barclays Bank Blocks Client’s Account Following Bitcoin Transaction on CoinDesk.
Barclays Bank Blocks Customer’s Account Following Bitcoin Transaction
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