Bitcoin Forum

Over the past two years, 6 million residents of the United Kingdom have been denied bank accounts.

According to a study conducted by competing banking service Pockit, since 2014 one in eight adults have been rejected by banks.

Additionally, the study found that six out of 10 of their customers thought that banks did not care to accommodate the needs of low-income workers.


Check out the article : http://cointelegraph.com/news/uk-banks-refused-6-million-citizens-accounts-bitcoin-doesnt-refuse-anyone

That's a gap in the market for Bitcoin to take advantage of. With the Bitcoin ATM infrastructure rolling out across the UK and elsewhere low income people can store their money in Bitcoins, and withdraw it as fiat through an ATM. There are Bitcoin debit cards rolling out too which will assist Bitcoin in taking the place of bank accounts.

i love bitcoin.. but lets be frank, the study didnt say that 6 million brits were denied basic bank accounts..
they were denied 'serviced' accounts that offer things like:
5%  cashbacks
ISA's
overdrafts

which are services which bitcoin does not offer.

where the list require suitable regular income to qualify for.
these 6 million people can still get standard bank accounts with an ATM card.
even people 'seeking asylum' in the UK can open a bank account.. just not accounts that offer extra services (which bitcoin doesnt either)

the situation of UK banks is NOT the same as the african bank situation or the situations of other third world countries.

Hey! African countries do not offer cashbacks all right, but they do not deny their citizens the chance to open a bank account.

Even children can open accounts if they have an adult to stand in for them.

What? The UK is an easy country to open a bank account in. I tried to open a bank account in France and Germany and they didn't want me as a customer, but UK was much friendlier.

the situation of UK banks is NOT the same as the african bank situation or the situations of other third world countries.

the situation in africa's "unbanked" is not about premium services or incomes.. its about availability of banks in remote villages
anyone can get a basic bank account.. but in africa, its location that is the main problem

I have moved to UK a few months ago (from a EU country).
I don`t really agree with you that is an easy country to open a bank account . First of all you have to prove you address were you live ,must prove that you pay a rent, and must have a bill on your name on that address. I was paying rent but it had the bills included so I didn`t had any bill on that address with my name. Only one bank wanted to open an account for me. After 1-2 months (didn`t had a job at that time) I tryed to use my debit card attached to the bank account and...found out that they closed my account..without any warning, without any call, email, post (they sayed that they called me several times but they didn`t)
just my experience..

Has already been said everyone in the UK can get some sort of basic bank account they may not get a serviced account.  even those who have been and are bankrupt can get a basic account.

People usually keep their savings in bank to earn interest on it.Keeping it in bitcoin would not serve any purpose as most middle class families need to withdraw for their everyday needs

Normal bank account are easy to open on european countries, also a child could have an account. The problem is if you want one with a credit card and other financial services, they will ask you for utility bills at your name to prove that you have an address. And you will need to prove that you have a job.

Are there any fall below fees for your bank accounts in your country?

In some banks of some countries, if the daily average balance is less than $1,000, the bank will deduct a $2 maintenance fee.

Most countries do not have this. The only one I heard is Singapore, having the minimum amount between $500 to $1000.

this was just a misleading article, i am getting used to these types of news and i don't think too much about them anymore. there is no bank in the world that will reject people to invest (deposit) in their bank. just like bitcoin.
this article is like saying bitcoin rejected me when i asked for a loan on bitcointalk!

You are right . this is really unbelievable. how banks can reject that much costumers. banks are looking for more costumers. I think it is a probably fake news.. but still this is also true that bitcoin won't reject anyone. no matter if he is kid or adult. 

it is not a fake news. franky1 gave an explanation (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1478219.msg14901903#msg14901903) about this which i think is true (they deny special accounts). this is just how these news sites work, the title of the news will create some thoughts in your mind which are not true when you think about them or read the article and that is how they intrigue people to click on their news site and get traffic.

part of it is mis-information part of it is advertising the new non-bank.... "pockit"..

which is trying to get people to buy up their prepaid cards(mastercard debit cards).. so the article (cointelegraph which always fails at its sources) is even pretending that pockit is a "competing banking service". when in actual fact is just a prepaid card reseller..

in short i think that cointelegraph has been paid to do some subtle advertising for a card reseller, without even checking the facts (as always)

Do the UK banks refuse applications for all kind of bank accounts or only for checking accounts with associated credit cards etc? It wouldn't make sense to not be able to open a savings account in your name because everyone has the right to open such an account even children. With checking accounts the screening process of new customers is maybe more strenuous and if they have a bad credit history or are jobless or are foreigners just moved to the country they may be denied new accounts but I can't believe this pertains to all kind of bank accounts. Can someone from the UK confirm if this relates to both checking and savings accounts?

I wonder if it is denial of basic human rights if one were not allowed to open a savings accounts. I can understand if it was an overdraft or checking account.

There are different banks offering different services and different accounts. I understand it can be tricky to open a basic current account, but it's sometimes much easier to open a business account.

1 in 8 is ridiculous.  How do they expect people to get housing, etc while living in a society where we are expected to have a bank account? This is why Bitcoin will be good for the unbanked all over the world. No judgement and no overseer. It cannot come soon enough.

If you try to fight the system, then you will have problems. If you accept the system (with all its flaws). then you will find life much easier. Banks like you to be on the electoral role, but some people resist this because they are trying to avoid paying taxes or various fines. You can be listed on the electoral role even if you are homeless, you just have to be prepared to work with the council in your chosen area.

LOL. I would love to see such cases being played out in European Court of Human Rights.

this is whould a good chance for bitcoin to reach that people who already denied,but its will not easy,we should know basic of every people,i think one of many problem that bitcoin have is acceptence,bitcoin should on right people hands.

It is always a problem no matter where you are. I have no idea about banking in some countries but in my country bank account are heavily fee loaded.
You will have to pay for everything: money transfer, withdrawal and account maintenance fee. It doesn't matter if you use that account or not.

That's why Bitcoin is so much better than fiat. I wish more people read that and similar articles, but unfortunately not many people read cointelegraph and even if they read they might not trust the information. We such articles in mainstream press.

that's one reason to prefer using bitcoin than banks.
as OP said, bitcoin doesn't refuse anyone

That's true that in our country, some banks are rejecting some people from special services. They're might be reason, but anyway, I would not trust someone who's making a detailled study of my earnings and lifestyle to let me pay them... Since you have the money, nothing more should be done.

Denial of service is not that big a issue here but a troubling trend is closure of accounts due to online transactions.


I opened a new bank account to run my business and online aspects from away from my other interests connected to the bank. They made a big deal out of needing to know where I worked,I gave them a contact and they contacted me two times to get me to update the information. I finally just stopped returning their calls and it became a dead issue,but they tried.

The part about lower income workers is a real problem because a lot of the services these people need are not offered at the bank because they feel it is beneath them or to costly to supply the services like loans under $500 for example.

Also getting pissed at having security guards telling me to remove my sunglasses when I go in to deposit some money.
Makes me almost contemplate robbing them in spite! :D :D :D

BTC is simply another currency, why can't banks add BTC into their forex list? That will be an interesting move.

everything in the world is a currency.
cigarettes are a currency used in prisons
sex us a currency in marriage to get your spouse to do things.
vodka/beer is a currency to get favours from friends

that doesnt mean that bitcoin should become the same as the government entrusted and central bank distributed currency called MONEY

and before anyone harps on saying bitcoin is money.. um no its an asset currency that allows bitcoin more freedom and choice, that money cant do/be

so i dont think bitcoin will be on a forex market. as that in itself is a complicated foyer of trading..

If you think that this does not happen, you should be classified as part of the 'sheep' population. Regardless of whether the numbers are correct, this does happen.

Who says that you have that "right"?

It comes down to the country. I have a bank account somewhere where you don't pay any kind of fees if there are no transactions in the month.

No. Bitcoin is not "simply another currency".

Wow that's amazing but we need to know basically bank and bitcoin have the different system, in a bank you need you personally account data  to sign up them, many requirements for bank to accepted we as their customer, but on bitcoin only need a sign up with bitcoin wallet no need more requirement like bank. well,both of them have a different policy and advantages,banks make such system to minimize various criminal activities..

Shocking numbers. Regarding the trust relationship between banks and their customers, who could trust a bank at all, these days?

your a sheep to beleive a story such as the OP posted.. seriously lauda nearly every post you make lacks intelligence. and usually is insulting people


who says that you have a single clue.. did you even ready the subtle hints in the article.. or just take it for granted..


UK baks are different to eastern europe.. atleast research what UK banks do before presuming what they dont do.
them 8mill rejections are not for basic accounts but for serviced accounts that offer overdrafts and cashbacks.


bitcoin is simply a currency.. because being a currency is simple..

the subcategory however.. is a more complicated thing to explain.. but basically comes down to "asset currency"

Banks hire teams of people to conduct background checks on prospective customers who intend to invest huge sums with the bank. Customers with shady backgrounds could be rejected.

But why should banks reject regular folks who wish to open accounts?