Cryptocurrency Circle Card Freezing Trend (6): China Merchants Bank "Crazy" Blocks Cards, Many Cryptocurrency Circle Credit Cards Have Been Frozen

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In the traditional view, banks will not actively freeze users' bank cards due to cryptocurrency transactions, but Wu Blockchain has learned that recently many people have had their China Merchants Bank credit cards frozen or their savings cards stopped from non-counter transactions due to normal cryptocurrency transactions.

It is reported that China Merchants Bank has always been known in the industry for its most stringent risk control for cryptocurrencies. China Merchants Bank’s customer service also told Wu Blockchain that it would proactively freeze bank cards based on its own risk control judgment. People in the currency circle should use China Merchants Bank for transactions with caution to avoid accidental injuries.

(A user posted a picture)

The China Times previously reported that the customer service of China Merchants Bank, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gave roughly the same response: "As long as the operation is legal, the channel is legal, the source of virtual currency is legal, and the page supports bank card services, the bank card will not actively freeze the user's funds unless it involves illegal cases such as money laundering and fraud."

In the past, the industry generally believed that "freezing accounts" was a compulsory measure, which was usually only authorized by judicial organs and some administrative law enforcement agencies, and banks were generally not allowed to do so. But in fact, Wu said that the blockchain learned that China Merchants Bank froze many users' credit card and savings card non-counter transactions (i.e., transactions can only be made at the counter), especially on the 28th, when many people were frozen.

Regarding whether it will take the initiative to control, the customer service of China Merchants Bank also replied that the bank itself has risk control policies and will take the initiative to investigate. This is inconsistent with the response received by the China Times. In fact, China Merchants Bank's proactive risk control of cryptocurrencies has always been the strictest in the industry.

In 2018, China Merchants Bank Hong Kong Branch issued an announcement: Please pay attention to China Merchants Bank Hong Kong Branch's arrangements for virtual currency transactions. According to relevant requirements, if China Merchants Bank Hong Kong Branch finds that a customer's account involves virtual currency, the account may be terminated. Hereby notified!

On the other hand, China Merchants Bank has been "crazily" banning credit cards recently. The popular posts in a certain credit card community are all about blocking cards, but they are not necessarily related to cryptocurrencies. It may be a sudden escalation of severe crackdown measures.

It can be expected that as regulators and the traditional financial industry gradually deepen their understanding of cryptocurrencies, banks will increasingly conduct proactive risk control in the future. In fact, in developed countries in Europe and the United States, proactive risk control at the bank level far outweighs government regulation. If it can be reasonably controlled, pre-risk control at a certain level is also a good thing. After all, it is relatively easier to negotiate with banks than with powerful agencies.

In addition, OTC traders and lawyers have repeatedly suggested not to use traditional large bank cards for cryptocurrency exchanges, but to use smaller banks to receive OTC funds, such as various local commercial banks.

Since the beginning of this year, the central bank and other regulatory agencies have begun to crack down on telecom fraud, money laundering, drug-related and gambling-related payment transfers involving cryptocurrencies. However, due to the natural anonymity of cryptocurrencies and the lag in domestic compliance supervision, there is no particularly reliable way to completely avoid freezing cards.

In the short term, refer to the content in the article "OTC Merchants' Advice on Defending Against Card Frozen", for example, do not participate in illegal activities such as running points, choose high-quality merchants on mainstream platforms for transactions, use special cards for special purposes, use bank cards from small banks, etc. In the long term, only when mainstream exchanges have better cooperation and risk control with regulators and the banking system can a relatively safe cryptocurrency-fiat currency exchange channel be fundamentally provided.