Is BCB Group crypto friendly?
Yes for crypto businesses and institutions, no for individuals. BCB is a payments and settlement provider, not a bank.
CBL Score: 10 of 16
| Criterion | Score | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Accepts exchange transfers | yes (2) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Stablecoin off-ramp | yes (2) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Business accounts for Web3 | yes (2) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Custody | partial (1) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Staking and yield | partial (1) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Card | no (0) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Multiple jurisdictions | yes (2) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
| Open to retail | no (0) | source · checked 8 September 2026 |
Total 10 of 16. Yes scores 2, partial 1, no 0. A secondary source is press or a third party rather than the bank or its regulator. Unverified means no source could be found; the score stands until one is.
Score history
Scores are revised when a bank's documents change. Each revision is dated and sourced.
| 8 September 2026 | Staking and yield | no to partial | source |
Standing
| Jurisdiction | UK · EEA |
| Type | Business banking |
| Health tag | Watch A 2023-24 FCA skilled-person review, senior compliance departures, limited published financials, and a French DASP registration that lapsed on 2 July 2026 at the end of the MiCA transition with no MiCA licence found in the registers. · checked 26 August 2026 |
| Last verified | 8 September 2026 |
If they close your account
Closure policy: Unknown
Unknown: we found no published closure policy.
| Notice | Not stated on the pages found. BCB names a BCB Group Payment Account Terms and Conditions document but does not publish it; the site carries only website Terms of Use, and the developer docs say API access needs a bilateral Commercial Agreement. A BCB Payments Limited page titled Appropriate Use of your BCB Payments Accounts, live until at least November 2024 and now redirected to the Insights hub, said that on a breach of its ten account requirements BCB may, without notice, stop processing payments, immediately suspend or close the account, exit the relationship and freeze assets. No notice period for an ordinary closure is published anywhere. |
| Reasons given | No policy found |
| Access to funds | Not stated for a closure. The withdrawn appropriate-use page said unused funds are swept to a nominated bank account after 29 days, and that BCB may freeze assets on a breach. No safeguarding statement or return-of-funds timing is published for the UK payment institution or the French e-money institution. |
| Appeal | No closure appeal is described. The UK Complaints page for BCB Payments Limited promises a final response within 3 days, or a holding reply within 15 days and a final response within 35 days, and says you can refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The EEA page for BCB Payments (Europe) SASU (ACPR e-money institution 735745) runs the same timelines and names the AMF Ombudsman instead. Both pages say BCB does not serve retail consumers. BCB Payments Limited is FCA-authorised under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (number 807377). |
| Names crypto as a ground for closure | not stated |
Sources: BCB Group Legal hub (entities and licences; no client terms linked) · official, checked 28 September 2026
BCB Group website Terms of Use · official, checked 28 September 2026
BCB Payments Limited, Appropriate Use of your BCB Payments Accounts; page withdrawn from the live site, read from the Internet Archive capture of 13 November 2024 · official, checked 28 September 2026
BCB Group Financial Crime Risk Appetite Statement · official, checked 28 September 2026
BCB Group Complaints page (UK) · official, checked 28 September 2026
BCB Payments (Europe) Complaints page (EEA) · official, checked 28 September 2026
A closure usually starts as a freeze. The Frozen Account Survival Kit covers the first 48 hours. Every bank side by side: which banks tell you why they closed your account.
What BCB Group allows and blocks
Allowed
- Business payment accounts in more than 30 currencies, with GBP over Faster Payments, CHAPS and SWIFT, EUR over SEPA, SEPA Instant, T2 and SWIFT, and USD over Fedwire
- Instant, free settlement with other BLINC members, including exchanges and market makers, 24 hours a day in USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, SGD, JPY, AUD and NZD
- Accounts for exchanges, liquidity providers, brokers, funds, fintechs and remittance firms. Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, Bitstamp and Crypto.com are named clients
- Fiat to crypto and crypto to fiat conversion, with USDC named, settled into SEPA or Faster Payments
- OTC trading in fiat, stablecoins and crypto through BCB Markets (Switzerland), including EURCV and assets on Polygon and Tron
- Stablecoin Earn: yield on USDC, USDT and EURC lent under a master loan agreement and placed in a USD money market fund vault
- Virtual IBANs and EUR e-money accounts through the French EMI
Blocked or restricted
- No accounts for individuals. Crypto trading is limited to Relevant Persons such as investment professionals and high net worth entities, and is closed to US persons and most UK residents
- USDT services are not available to EU-based clients
- No card of any kind
- No staking
- Onboarding and payments refused for a long list of countries including Russia, China, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan (payments) and Venezuela
- No unregulated money service businesses, illegal gambling, adult industry or arms businesses
- Crypto services in France: the AMF DASP registration lapsed on 2 July 2026 at the end of the MiCA transition, and no BCB entity appears on the MiCA CASP trackers checked
Opening an account
- Businesses and institutions only. BCB describes clients as SMEs, corporates and institutions working in or around digital assets.
- Onboarding runs through a full KYC, KYB and AML review with a named account manager. BCB says it collects ID proofs, financial statements and other corporate documents.
- No published timeline, no published minimum balance and no published account fee. Pricing is agreed with sales.
- Firms from the prohibited country list, unlicensed money service businesses and the sectors named in the risk appetite statement are turned away. High risk countries need sign-off from the MLRO.
- Crypto trading needs the client to qualify as a Relevant Person. Retail investors in the UK are excluded.
Fees that matter
- Fees are not published. There is no public fee schedule for accounts, wires or FX.
- Transfers between BLINC members are free with no transaction limits or network fees.
- Trading is quoted as spread-based OTC pricing via RFQ, limit or market orders. Spreads are not published.
- Stablecoin Earn pays daily rewards with a boosted rate for the first four months. The rate is not published on the page.
Regulatory history
| 2020 | FCA authorised BCB Payments Limited as an Authorised Payment Institution (FRN 807377) in January 2020, after a 2018 registration as a money remitter. source |
| 2024 | The FCA issued a section 166 skilled person notice in late 2023. It closed in 2024 with BCB saying it was in good standing. Five senior executives, including the CEO and the chief compliance officer, left between mid 2023 and September 2024. source |
| 2026 | France granted an ACPR e-money licence and an AMF DASP registration in April 2024. The AMF register shows the DASP registration of BCB Markets (Europe) lapsed on 2 July 2026 at the end of the MiCA transition period, with no MiCA CASP authorisation found. source |
See a mistake? Email hi@cryptobanklist.com. Every factual correction is logged on our corrections page.
Questions about BCB Group
Can I open a BCB Group account as an individual?
No. BCB serves businesses and institutions in the digital asset economy, from SMEs to exchanges and funds. Its crypto trading is limited to Relevant Persons such as investment professionals and high net worth entities, and it excludes US persons and most UK residents.
Does BCB Group let me send money to Kraken or Coinbase?
Yes, for business clients. Exchanges are BCB's core client base, and Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini and Bitstamp are named on its site. If your counterparty is also a BLINC member, the transfer settles instantly and free of charge at any hour.
Is BCB Group a bank?
No. BCB Payments Limited is an FCA authorised payment institution in the UK, BCB Payments (Europe) is a French e-money institution, and BCB Markets (Switzerland) is a VQF SRO member. None of them is a bank, and there is no deposit insurance.
Is BCB Group licensed under MiCA?
Not as far as public registers show. Its French DASP registration lapsed on 2 July 2026 when the MiCA transition ended, and no BCB entity appeared on the two MiCA CASP trackers checked in September 2026. BCB said in August 2025 that it had filed a MiCA application.
Closest alternatives
Yes for regulated crypto businesses, no for individuals.13/16Bank Frick
Yes for crypto businesses, intermediaries and wealthy private clients. No walk-in retail.