Yesterday, a high-profile case was the termination of a contract by BZ WBK bank to an individual. Today, we learn in an official statement from the EasyCoin.pl exchange about the termination of the contract by PEKAO bank.
Yesterday, a high-profile case was the termination of a contract by BZ WBK bank to an individual. Today, we learn in an official statement from the EasyCoin.pl exchange about the termination of the contract by PEKAO bank.
The information about the termination of the contract by BANK BZ WBK to an individual for trading in cryptocurrencies has reverberated widely on the Polish internet. An exceptionally heated discussion took place on the wykop.pl portal.
The BZ WBK bank branch in Zduńska Wola terminated the agreement because, as it claims, “trading in virtual currency is not covered by the unambiguous provisions of Polish law” and the bank has the right to terminate the agreement in the event of a reasonable suspicion that the account is being used for illegal purposes.
In a statement responding to the confusion caused by the blockade, the bank emphasises that “does not terminate contracts with individuals who buy/sell cryptocurrencies in a standard manner”.
The key word here seems to be the word “standard”, and what that means is no longer known. We can only guess that a non-standard purchase/sale of cryptocurrencies is one that is frequent and/or for large amounts. It turns out that recognizing the act of buying/selling a cryptocurrency as non-standard is only a subjective assessment of the bank. In any case, if we exchange/buy cryptocurrencies using an account in BZ WBK, we expose ourselves to the risk of our transactions being recognized as non-standard and the contract being terminated. Thus, BZ WBK bank can be considered unfriendly to cryptocurrencies.
One termination of a client’s contract also turned out to be a proverbial shot in the foot for the bank’s PR. The bank’s official Facebook account was bombarded with unfavorable opinions and ratings for the bank, which caused the bank’s final rating to be significantly lowered.
Source: www.facebook.com
Perhaps this will serve as a warning to other banks that want to go down this path. The cryptocurrency community is no longer small, and those not involved in cryptocurrencies see this as an attack on customers’ freedom to manage their own money.
Termination of the agreement for maintaining an account on the EasyCoin.pl exchange by PEKAO bank
Unfortunately, the action of the BZ WBK bank is not an isolated one. Today, at the Polish Bitcoin Forum, the EasyCoin.pl exchange announced that its account was terminated by the PEKAO bank
We regret to inform you that, in accordance with the notice of termination of the account management agreement with Bank Pekao SA, we are forced to stop accepting payments and offering our currency exchange services within the aforementioned bank until 31 January 2018. Conducting business in the field of currency exchange and digital currencies on the Internet in accordance with applicable law, we are obliged to and do carry out the assumptions of the Act on Counteracting Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing and we regret that the bank in its justification refers to the fact that it is unable to determine the source of funds in its accounts, which is why it cannot perform the obligations of the aforementioned Act.
Unfortunately, this may not be the end of the banks’ actions against cryptocurrencies. After the latest warning from the NBP and KNF, banks may be increasingly willing and more likely to terminate account agreements with companies and individuals trading in cryptocurrencies.
