Mt.Gox and Intersango no longer accepting UK bank transfers

[Lukasdag]

Hi guys just looking for an alternative that is relatively cheap. Depositing into Mt.Gox's Japan account would cost me around £25 in fees, this isn't ideal I don't tend to buy BTC in large amounts.

[SuperHakka]

Best for you is to open up Blockchain wallet and use their PingIt service (mobile app for Barclays/Lloyds). They charge 0.97% fees total and prices are usually closely connected with best price at Mt Gox at the time. There is a maximum limit of £250 per week. I have used it a couple of times and it's fine.

[Stephen Gornick]

Best for you is to open up Blockchain wallet and use their PingIt service (mobile app for Barclays/Lloyds). They charge 0.97% fees total and prices are usually closely connected with best price at Mt Gox at the time. There is a maximum limit of £250 per week. I have used it a couple of times and it's fine.

In a couple days it will be fine again, but BlockChain.info depleted funds and is waiting for the services's operator to return from vacation:

 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=113388.msg1242299#msg1242299
 - https://blockchain.info/wallet/deposit-pingit


You can also send cash (GBP) in the mail to Bitcoin Nordic (in Denmark):
 - http://www.BitcoinNordic.com


And, or course, there may be a chance for a local trade:
 - http://www.LocalBitcoins.com


Also, BitInstant now has a method:

For Bitcoin in the UK, BitInstant just released an online bank transfer system. This has not been publicly announced yet, but it works, and is very fast.  

On BitInstant.com, select your UK flag (You can see many other countries are available for this as well), then select Online Bank Transfer and go through the process. You can have the funds converted automatically into BTC and sent to your Bitcoin account, so you don't even need to bother with any exchanges. Fee is 3.49% if over $100 worth, and 3.99% if under.

EDIT: note that these bank transfer payments are nearly instant (matter of minutes). It does not take 1-3 days like most bank transfers. It's pretty baller, actually

[Lukasdag]

Thanks for the replies I think I'll wait for BlockChain to sort itself out then.

I did try the new bitinstant method but it requested banking login details and passwords, I'm not comfortable giving any company, no matter how reputable that kind of information.

 I'm really hoping Mt Gox's UK account comes back on-line. Does anyone know any more information on why it has gone down, their site just says their account has been frozen. It looked like Intersango went down at around the same time (I'm not sure which bank they used), do we think there's some sort of banking policy/politics reason for it. From what I've read banks don't seem to be too support of the currency.

[SuperHakka]

Intersango used Metro Bank and Mt Gox used Barclays. By the way, people should know that even though there are quite a few ways to convert GBP to BTC, you should always keep an eye on the spread these methods charge you as well as bank transfer charges. BitInstant charge like nearly 4% for converting your cash for you while Blockchain only charge you 0.97%. The cheapest I've ever done it is 0.6% at Mt Gox but that was when they had a UK bank account open (into which GBP transfer was free).

[matthewh3]

You can also use - https://www.bitinstant.com/# - in the UK now.

[beergut100]

You can also use - https://www.bitinstant.com/# - in the UK now.

BitInstant is not working for UK deposits ATM.

[trebornay27]

What about SEPA transfers for intersango - do these take a lot longer than UK transfers?

[davout]

Bitcoin-Central.net has now opened a GBP market.

GBP deposits are absolutely free, you wire 100 GBP, you get credited 100 GBP.
GBP withdrawals incur a 0.99 GBP fee.

The trade fee is 0.498% which is cheaper than *any* other alternative.

[muyuu]

Bitcoin-Central.net has now opened a GBP market.

GBP deposits are absolutely free, you wire 100 GBP, you get credited 100 GBP.
GBP withdrawals incur a 0.99 GBP fee.

The trade fee is 0.498% which is cheaper than *any* other alternative.

Except for the massive spread.

[davout]

Bitcoin-Central.net has now opened a GBP market.

GBP deposits are absolutely free, you wire 100 GBP, you get credited 100 GBP.
GBP withdrawals incur a 0.99 GBP fee.

The trade fee is 0.498% which is cheaper than *any* other alternative.

Except for the massive spread.

We can't do anything about this chicken and egg problem, the free market will take care of that.
The spread will automatically reduce when people start submitting orders and doing arbitrage.

We offer lower fees, and, I believe, a much more professionnal service, so IMHO there is no really no reason that some GBP trading volume moves our way.

[davout]

Except for the massive spread.

Do you like the spread better now ?

[muyuu]

Sure it's not your fault.

I will give it a shot when I have some free time.

[davout]

I will give it a shot when I have some free time.

Please do. If you contribute to providing liquidity and give us some volume we'll definitely cut you a nice deal on the trading fee.

[xifer]

Also looking to buy bitcoins in the UK.  Irritating not being able to messageon here yet.  be nice to get a message from alwaysmining

[muyuu]

I will give it a shot when I have some free time.

Please do. If you contribute to providing liquidity and give us some volume we'll definitely cut you a nice deal on the trading fee.

Just tried now, and my bank charges a fee of 10GBP for international payments (your bank is in France, not in the UK).

I think I'm going to pass.

[bennett211085]

Also looking to buy bitcoins in the UK.  Irritating not being able to messageon here yet.  be nice to get a message from alwaysmining

Same reason I joined...

[xifer]

lot of it about.

Does anyone have any insight into the exact nature of the problems intersango and mtgox etc have with UK bank accounts?

Is it pressure from the authorities re bitcoins in particular or AML in general?  Or technical?

[mintcoin]

lot of it about.

Does anyone have any insight into the exact nature of the problems intersango and mtgox etc have with UK bank accounts?

Is it pressure from the authorities re bitcoins in particular or AML in general?  Or technical?

Probably lots of transactions to a few accounts in a short period of time would lead to a block by the heuristics.

Might be the authorities as well - Silk etc etc.

[WH401]

lot of it about.

Does anyone have any insight into the exact nature of the problems intersango and mtgox etc have with UK bank accounts?

Is it pressure from the authorities re bitcoins in particular or AML in general?  Or technical?

Probably lots of transactions to a few accounts in a short period of time would lead to a block by the heuristics.

Might be the authorities as well - Silk etc etc.

Sucks that this is effecting all of the UK btc users, pretty damn unfair