UK Bank Barriers Reject 40% of Transfers to Crypto Exchanges

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Approximately 40% of payments from customers to digital asset platforms are being blocked or delayed by UK banks. This finding is detailed in a recent report from an industry council representing crypto businesses.

Ten prominent centralized exchanges, including OKX, Gemini, and Bitpanda, participated in the survey. Data from one exchange indicated that declines from UK banks alone accounted for close to $1.2 billion in failed transactions across the previous year.

The report shows a troubling trend, with 80% of firms observing a sharp increase in payment issues over the past year. Seven in ten exchanges described the local banking environment as growing “more hostile,” giving the UK a high difficulty score for banking access compared to other markets.

This challenging climate has directly impacted business strategy. One major exchange cited banking problems as the primary obstacle to growth in the UK, leading them to focus their efforts elsewhere.

These banking obstacles are applied broadly and without transparency. All exchanges reported a lack of clear explanations from banks for blocked payments. The disruptions are widespread, affecting both bank transfers and card payments for the majority of firms.