NatWest Bank Vs Cryptocurrency: My money’s on the underDoge

I woke up this morning with the first thing on my to-do list being “Put money in Dogecoin”. I’m sure I’m not the only one!

The reason is two-fold for us; I’m a long-term Doge-hodler since £0.004 and we’re developing a Doge related app – we also accept Dogecoin as payment on this website.

Imagine my surprise when my Natwest Debit card was declined when purchasing through Binance. I tried multiple times from business and personal accounts, all declined. A test transaction from a Nationwide account worked fine.

I contacted the Natwest team on their live chat and after passing verification the representative Shamayla investigated. After a long wait I was told that it was not a security decline, it was a policy one!

Purchasing Cryptocurrency now goes against Natwest Bank Policy! This is huge!

Naturally I asked to see the full details of the policy to share with Journalists and Cryptocurrency Experts. After another long wait (blamed on poor wifi) I was told that the representative could not find the policy that purchasing Cryptocurrency breaches, but it is within their terms and conditions. This is dangerous territory and literally the reason why coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum and even Dogecoin (that started as a meme), were started. What gives the bank the right to decide what I spend/invest money on?

Dogecoin To The Moon..?

What’s even more infuriating with this incident is that since the transactions were declined and the purchase of Dogecoin blocked, the value of Dogecoin has gone up over 30%!

Natwest has been reported on in the past for being supportive of Cryptocurrency, but this is no longer the case.

I am promised a call later today with full details of Natwest’s policy, as soon as they can come up with one. I’ll update this post with the details.

Edit 1: 2nd June @ 12:58

It would seem that they are struggling to find what policy Cryptocurrency violates and so they’re now blaming a technical error.

If anyone’s cryptocurrency purchases are blocked, you can allegedly call the Natwest Fraud team on 0800 022 4447 and they will be able to approve it. You will not receive the usual alert in your app, or text message because of the “Technical Error” so will not be able to approve it any other way. The representative still seems unsure as the reason alternates between policy and technical error, but I’m promised an update later today or early tomorrow to talk about compensation for the “technical error” and much needed clarification of the policy.

Edit 2: 8th June @ 11:37

Natwest Bank Market Manipulation

Natwest have offered compensation of £250 for their “technical error”. While I appreciate the gesture this still puts me at a great loss. However, what concerned me even more about the email received from the Natwest representative was the market manipulation. For the second time this week Natwest have recommended Coinbase, a rival to Binance. Now considering I trade with Binance’s BNB coin this is very disturbing. A UK bank is manipulating the market, stopping it’s customers purchasing from one site, lowering the value of it’s coin, and actively recommending a rival driving up their stock price. Is this legal… pretty sure it isn’t.

Natwest have confirmed in writing that the “technical error” is still there and they have no ETA on a fix.

June 2, 2021

Chris Ryu

Web Design