Lloyds Bank bans Bitcoin purchases on its credit cards

[CryptoGirl]

Lloyds Banking Group has banned its customers from buying Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies on their credit cards.

The ban, starting on Monday, applies to Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA customers.

It will not apply to debit cards, only to the banking group's eight million credit card customers.

The move follows a sharp fall in the value of digital currencies, prompting fears about people running up debts.

Over the weekend, several of the biggest issuers of credit cards in the US also banned customers from using their cards to buy digital currency.

The list of financial firms included Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan, Capital One and Discover.

Lloyds is concerned it could end up footing the bill for unpaid debts should the price continue to fall.

The bank said there would not be a digital or postal mailshot to inform customers about the change to its credit card policy. Customers will only be informed should they query a blocked crypto-currency credit card transaction.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42940728