The complaints came from 9,800 people across all 650 parliamentary constituencies, making the campaign a nationwide account of customers reporting blocked, delayed or limited payments. The figures were collected through a voluntary online tool and are not a representative survey of bank customers or an estimate of complaint rates by institution.
Lloyds Banking Group, including Halifax and Bank of Scotland, drew the largest number of submissions at 2,297, or 23% of the total. Barclays followed with 1,569 complaints, while NatWest Group recorded 1,278. Because the figures were not adjusted for banks’ respective shares of current accounts, the totals show where the campaign received complaints but do not establish which institution had the highest rate of customer restrictions.
The campaign found differences between banks’ published policies and customers’ experiences. Lloyds had no publicly posted policy restricting crypto transfers in a website review conducted Aug. 28, yet it received the highest number of complaints. Barclays publicly limits crypto transfers to £2,500 per transaction and £10,000 over 30 days, while NatWest and Santander publish their own transaction or monthly limits. Chase, Starling, TSB, Metro Bank and Virgin Money were identified as prohibiting crypto transactions altogether. Banks with published limits accounted for 61% of submissions, compared with 28% involving banks without published restrictions and just under 10% involving banks with outright bans.
The dispute comes as the UK advances a regulatory framework intended to bring crypto firms under fuller Financial Conduct Authority supervision. The FCA says firms continuing to operate must apply by Feb. 28, 2027, before the new regime takes effect on Oct. 25, 2027, with standards covering consumer protection, safeguarding, market integrity and financial resilience. The regulator also says banks should manage money-laundering risk through comprehensive and proportionate controls, using judgments about individual relationships rather than wholesale de-risking. Stand With Crypto is calling for clearer explanations of restrictions and meaningful ways for customers to challenge blocked payments, arguing that banks should assess transactions individually rather than apply industry-wide barriers.