India: Has Your Bank Closed Your Account For Crypto-Related Transactions?
Indian banks have in the past threatened to close down customer accounts with or without notice for engaging in any cryptocurrency related transactions. In fact now there are newer reports of other banks doing it. Recently Citi Bank India has closed a salary account of their customer.
Salary accounts are also a type of savings account usually used by corporate customers to get their salary credited into it.
In the past Kotak Mahindra bank has shut down accounts of its customer with a 24 hr notice.
If you have used a cryptocurrency exchange chances are your banker might have flagged your account internally for further action. However if you are using P2P mechanisms for trading cryptos then you will be fine.
What can I do If Bank closed my account without warning
- It is possible to get it sorted out. Don't panic.
- Try approaching your bank's customer grievances cell and speak to them and see if you can get an extension or they would reconsider their decision.
- Irrespective of what happens at this stage you can approach your banking ombudsman in whose jurisdiction your bank falls after 30 days of talking to your bank's customer grievances cell.
- If all else fails file a consumer complain against your bank in the consumer court. Consumer courts are quite efficient in most parts of our country.
You can do (4) for any irregularities in services discharged by the bank to you.
In the worst case there is no resolution it's best to change your banking partner. It's not always the most feasible option but sometimes you aren't left with any choice at all.
You can always pursue legal action against your bank for any failure from their side to render services to you.
If you come across any such reports please let me know.
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Recently a incident happened where Citibank seized account giving reason for crytpocurrency transaction. Since now we are dealing with p2p then how can bank get to know that this txn is for crypto purchase. After investigation reason came out that user put in the remark as "bitcoin" while doing NEFT/IMPS transfer. Practically bank can not trace the purpose of transaction in p2p model as we are sending money to people like us and not to any exchange. But be careful and don't put any remarks related to crypto while doing transfer. May be the case, in this tweet user might have put in something like this in remark.
That sucks. That would be worse for research scholar like me, a lot of my friends who have invested in crypto. The fellowship they give is mostly tied to one bank account, which is mostly decided by govt agency paying the fellowship. I hope they don't do this . I think the best course of action from now onwards would be to keep your salary and trading bank account separate. But this is really ridiculous behaviour by banks. And then they wonder why people prefer the idea of decentralization over them. Anyway, thanks for the information.
This sounds more like an extortion scheme to me. The least they could do is give us a notice of at least a week so that we could take action or just simply move our funds elsewhere.
resteem this important post
Fuck Citi...I guess
Meanwhile
http://fortune.com/2018/06/16/citibank-fined-libor-settlement/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-citigroup-fine/citibank-fined-70-million-for-anti-money-laundering-compliance-shortcomings-idUSKBN1ET25A
https://www.manatt.com/insights/news/2018/citibank-refunds-$335m-to-consumers,-avoiding-pena
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/02/23/citibank-fined-over-debt-collections-and-sales/80812472/
It's bad news for digital India mission, if we are promoting digital India and not supporting digital currencies..
And I never heard that Indian Banks freez the accounts of people like Nrav Mi, Viay Ma*a before their leaving country.. Even Indian Banks supported them for getting loans..
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The bank mafia is back at it again. I think that for the time being most crypto traders are only engaging in P2P trading in India as the doors to fiat trading have been shut. Obviously, the current actions must be from the past engagement in the crypto trading.
Either way the trading of crypto is not illegal. As you suggested the case in a consumer court (last resort) can hold up pretty well.
Keep many banks . And use P2P
Adominable!? I'm hearing that word for the first time( usually only Shashi Tharoor use such words!)
I think banks won't close accounts so long as crypto trading isn't illegal. If they do... No, they won't.
are they doing this to comply with a law or of their own accord?
Are they doing this
To comply with a law or
Of their own accord?
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