Bank of the West closes Amagi Metals’ account due to Bitcoin payments
Amagi Metals, the precious metals furnisher, recently revealed that their current bank account with the San Francisco-based Bank of the West (BotW) is going to be closed in the middle of August. Why? Well… Because they accept Bitcoin as a payment method and the institution sees that as a risk.
“We have worked with BotW since 2011. In the last month they began requesting information about our business and claiming that we were a Money Service Business (MSB). However, we only accept Bitcoins as a payment method, we do not sell Bitcoins, nor do we exchange or ‘deal’ Bitcoins. In addition, we are compliant with AML/KYC and other regulations“, explained Amagi Metals in a public statement.
Being a business that works online with clients from all over the world, Amagi Metals provides several payment methods to its customers. Besides bank wires, personal checks, money orders, PayPal and credit cards, they decided to add Bitcoin in December of 2012. Then, in February, the platform announced that they had received the US dollar equivalent of nearly $50,000 of sales denominated in Bitcoin. Apparently, their success of the decision pleased everybody, except the bank.
That is why, at the end of last week, Amagi Metals “heard back from the bank”, which is closing down their account and shutting down some options. “They think that we are a ‘risk’ because we accept Bitcoins as a payment method“, the platform says.
So, the company launched a plea to the Bitcoin community. “We need your help! Can anyone suggest a Bitcoin friendly bank located in the United States so that we may continue doing business after mid-August?”, they asked on Reddit. “Please, note that we plan on continuing business as usual and this will not affect our current business operations. Thank you for all your help and support”, Amagi Metals added. If you think you can help the company go to Reddit and leave your advice.
Via bitcoinmagazine.com
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