It is already not possible to use credit cards from Sparebank 1 for gambling, and now the bank is introducing similar security routines for transactions for cryptocurrency and the black market.
This is stated by communications manager Eirin Sørensen Røkke on behalf of Sparebank 1 Kreditt til The online newspaper.
The background for this rule change is a recommendation from the professional committee in Finans Norge. The rules come into force on 1 November 2021, and will affect the approximately 650,000 Norwegians who have credit cards with Sparebank 1.
Fear «default wave»
Crypto-stop
In practice, the new rules will mean that customers can no longer buy and sell bitcoin / other virtual currency or investment services with a mastercard from Sparebank 1.
“The credit card is not intended to be a means of payment for financial speculation, and to impose restrictions on use for this is, in our opinion, to take social responsibility,” Røkke told Nettavisen.
She believes that there is a high risk associated with using credit cards repeatedly and increasing investment in digital currency.
The Consumer Council also experiences that there is a lot of fraud in the crypto market, and therefore they believe that action must be taken to protect consumers.
– Ideally, the fraudsters should have been denied access to the international payment systems, such as Visa and Mastercard. When this does not happen, it is commendable that Sparebank 1 Kreditt takes the step they are taking now, says director Jorge Jensen to Dinside.
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… and concert stops
In addition, buying tickets for concerts or other events where the seller charges a higher price than the regular price, will also be difficult with the new rules on whether the customer will use their credit card.
This is, for example, in the case of concert tickets sold on the black market.
Geir Petter Gjefsen, head of consumer safety at Finn.no, says, however, that concert tickets that are considered to have a high risk of fraud or a large black market volume are not allowed to be sold with them. The same applies to tickets that are sold at a higher price than the regular price. These rules have been in place in many years, according to him.
Get out of the credit crunch
Customers receive this message
The online newspaper further reports that all Sparebank 1 customers with credit cards in the same bank recently received a message in the online bank, informing them of the new rules:
«The payment card (including the card number) shall not be used for the purchase of investment services (eg shares, binary options and other derivatives), digital currencies that are not regulated by public authorities, the purchase and / or sale of tickets to events where the sale is made at a higher price than nominal ticket price incl. fee, cf. the Black Stock Exchange Act section 1 ».
Sparebank 1 admits that there is no guarantee that all forms of illegal trading will be stopped, but communications manager Røkke emphasizes that most people are well aware that it is illegal to trade on the black market, both with credit cards or other means of payment.
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