Chase Bank, a subsidiary of financial services company JPMorgan Chase, will impose a ban on all cryptocurrency-related transactions made by customers starting from October 16, 2023.

Chase Bank customers in the United Kingdom will no longer be able to make crypto transactions with their debit cards starting from October 16, due to an increase in fraud and scams.

A spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the bank was “committed to helping keep our customers’ money safe and secure”.

The bank on Tuesday said, “We’ve seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting UK consumers, so we have taken the decision to prevent the purchase of crypto assets on a Chase debit card or by transferring money to a crypto site from a Chase account.

“Customers will receive a declined transaction notification if they do attempt to make a crypto-related transaction.”

Data from Britain’s fraud reporting agency Action Fraud, states there has been a 40% increase in consumer losses to crypto fraud in the past year, surpassing the £30 million for the first time.

JP Morgan has generated more than 1.6 million customers to its Chase retail bank since launching the mobile app-based service in Britain two years ago, and plans to roll out the consumer bank in other international markets over time.

“This has been done to protect our customers and keep their money safe,” the Chase spokesperson noted, adding:

“We’re committed to helping keep our customers’ money safe and secure. We’ve seen an increase in the number of crypto scams targeting U.K. consumers, so we have taken the decision to prevent the purchase of crypto assets on a Chase debit card or by transferring money to a crypto site from a Chase account.”

The bank earlier announced its policy changes in an email to customers on September 26, “We’ve made this decision because fraudsters are increasingly using crypto assets to steal large amounts of money from people.”