ING Bank: Customers Not Blocked From Buying Bitcoin

A spokesperson for ING Group has clarified its customers are able to buy bitcoin via company bank accounts, despite conflicting statements from one of its social media representatives.

The statements follow a period of speculation about the Dutch multinational banking and financial services company's policies following ING's assertion that it was blocking bitcoin purchases from user accounts.

A spokesperson for the company indicated yesterday that it was not possible for ING users to attempt to acquire bitcoin using their accounts due to the "increased risk of fraud" associated with the transactions.

That statement was later retracted in comments to CoinDesk:

"Our bitcoin policy, it is very simple, ING customers can buy bitcoins with their ING bank account."

Company representatives on Twitter have also since clarified the matter.

Nonetheless, the comments are some of the first statements from ING regarding its bitcoin policy, though it had previously addressed the subject in its corporate materials.

ING boasts 32 million private and institutional clients, earning €1.3bn in retail banking and €739m from its commercial banking activities in Q1 2015.

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