U.K. bank NatWest has reportedly said it will not accept business customers who take payments in crypto.
Morten Friis, head of the bank’s risk committee, said the bank was following a “cautious approach” to crypto, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
NatWest has “no appetite for dealing with customers” whose business is backed by the exchange of crypto, according to Friis.
Among major U.K. businesses that this would affect are cosmetics firm Lush which accepts crypto as a form of payment online and pub chain Brewdog which accepts bitcoin and bitcoin cash at its Canary Wharf location in London.
Despite many banking giants such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs warming to crypto, the U.K.’s major players remain skeptical.
HSBC last week said it has “no appetite for direct exposure to virtual currencies and limited appetite to facilitate products or securities that derive their value from virtual currencies.”
This was in response to a question about Coinbase’s public listing debut.
