Obtaining Bitcoin through regular payments is becoming a lot more complicated in the future. It is evident there is a lot of negative pressure by various banks all over the world. Even the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is following this same path. That decision comes as a surprise, as Australia is often considered to be cryptocurrency-friendly. A very dubious decision that will undoubtedly unleash a lot of backlash.
Buying Bitcoin with a credit or debit card is virtually impossible right now. Major banks around the world prevent users from purchasing cryptocurrencies this way. It causes a lot of unnecessary friction, for obvious reasons. It is convenient to buy Bitcoin with a payment card, and it makes a lot of sense to do so. Unfortunately, very few people will be able to do so in the future if this trend keeps up.
Commonwealth Bank Makes an Unpopular Decision
Most banks are seemingly concerned about the fraud risks associated with these purchases. More specifically, there’s a high chance users will buy Bitcoin and force a card payment chargeback. As Bitcoin isn’t officially legalized in most countries, there would be no real recourse either. Commonwealth Bank is thinking along similar lines, by the look of things. They are sending text messages to customers to explain this purchase ban.
Unfortunately, this also indicates the decisions by Commonwealth Bank is rather sudden. Otherwise, they could have informed clients about this impending change in policy. As of right now, the bank deems such transactions to be inappropriate, yet does not further explain the thought process. This is another example of how banks will continue to crack down on how customers spend their own money. Right now, consumers are forced to deal with more and more limitations every month.
Affected users have nothing they can do about this situation. Their only course of action is changing banks. Sadly, it is possible other major Australian banks will take a similar approach to Bitcoin-related purchases. This global crackdown is far from over, by the look of things, which is not a positive trend whatsoever. Surprisingly, Commonwealth Bank still allows users to buy Bitcoin with regular bank transfers. For now, that type of service will not be blocked by the bank.
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