London, February 5: Lloyds Banking Group joined major US banks in banning purchases of bitcoin and other crypto currencies via credit card amid debt and security concerns on January 5. An LBG spokesman said the ban was across its Lloyd Bank, Bank of Scotland, Halifax and MBNA branded credit cards. In a brief statement, he said LBG does "not accept credit card transactions involving the purchase of crypto currencies".

Over the past few days, US lenders Bank of American, Citi group and JP Morgan each introduced the same ban. There is a concern that customers who bought bitcoin late last year when cryto currencies in general surged in value have been left with big losses following massive declines in recent weeks. Today, the price of bitcoin tumbled to $7,950, two months after breaking through the $20,000 mark.

It comes as China plans to stamp out all remaining crypto currency trading in the country by blocking access too verseas-based websites and removing related applications from app stores.

The international value of bitcoin and other crypto currencies have plunged this year amid fears of a crack down in Asia and concerns that many currencies' rapid rise in value last year could reflect an bubble.