UK Banks Flooded With Crypto User Complaints, Led by Lloyds and Barclays

Earlier this year, Stand With Crypto successful the UK (SWC), a British crypto plus lobby group, gave bitcoin and different cryptocurrency users a instrumentality to record complaints against their banks for blocking oregon limiting wealth transfers to U.K.-registered crypto plus platforms.

More Than 10,000 Complaints successful 90 Days

According to SWC, 9,803 individuals filed much than 10,000 complaints betwixt May and August 2026. Lloyds Banking Group received the astir complaints, astatine 2,297. Barclays ranked 2nd with 1,569 complaints, portion NatWest Group, which includes the Royal Bank of Scotland, ranked 3rd with 1,278.

These are among the U.K.’s largest banking groups, with immoderate of the biggest lawsuit bases, which could explicate wherefore they received the astir complaints.

Meanwhile, Virgin Money received 103 complaints and The Co-operative Bank received 76, accounting for astir 1% each of the total. However, this doesn’t mean they are the U.K.’s astir crypto-friendly banks, arsenic some prohibit crypto plus transfers altogether.

Even Revolut, which offers its clients assorted crypto asset-related features, received much than 500 complaints.

Crypto Ban, Transfer Caps, oregon No Policy

During the campaign, radical could prime their slope and the benignant of regularisation they faced, portion besides adding details astir their circumstantial situation.

It’s unclear however the complaints were resolved, arsenic banks dealt with customers directly.

“But advocates person travel backmost to Stand With Crypto and told them astir their journeys, truthful we bash cognize that banks person engaged with them connected this,” SWC told Bitcoin.com News.

The enactment besides identified 3 approaches to crypto plus transfers among U.K. banks: blocking each transfers, imposing limits, oregon not stating a argumentation astatine all, arsenic Revolut and Lloyds do. For example, Barclays and HSBC U.K. let £2,500 per transaction and £10,000 per 30 days, portion Monzo caps transfers astatine £5,000 per 30 days.

Policies arsenic published connected the website of each slope oregon banking group, arsenic of 28 August 2026. Source: Stand with Crypto successful the UK

Case-by-Case Controls and More Clarity

The study has immoderate caveats. For example, it doesn’t relationship for differences successful slope size oregon explicate wherefore idiosyncratic transfers were blocked. Still, it indicates that thousands of crypto plus users successful the U.K. conflict with transfers to regulated platforms.

As SWC emphasized, published policies connection nary guarantees, arsenic banks tin inactive artifact oregon hold transfers. This limits customers’ quality to power to a much crypto-friendly bank.

“Consumer prime cannot run efficaciously erstwhile consumers bash not cognize what they are choosing between,” the lobby group, which counts crypto giants Coinbase, Gemini, and Blockchain.com among its partners, said.

The enactment called connected banks to follow “risk-sensitive, case-by-case controls alternatively of broad sectoral blocks,” and urged the Financial Conduct Authority and the Treasury to “clarify that sector-wide blocks are not a proportionate mentation of regulatory obligations.”

Systemic Discrimination

Another study highlighted the systemic quality of banking restrictions successful the U.K. In January 2026, the UK Cryptoasset Business Council said that, according to its survey, 40% of transactions to crypto exchanges are either blocked oregon delayed by banks.

As reported successful July, British lawmakers began investigating whether banks were imposing excessive restrictions connected crypto plus businesses. In August, they asked large banks whether the country’s incoming crypto model would alteration however they treat regulated crypto plus firms.

The SWC study follows a U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency report that recovered 9 large American banks had policies that could restrict fiscal services based connected governmental beliefs, spiritual affiliations oregon lawful concern activities. The crypto plus manufacture was besides affected.