UK Banking Giant Barclays Allows Charities to Accept Bitcoin

     Barclays Bank has announced that it will take its first steps towards supporting charities using Bitcoin as an alternative payment method for accepting digital currency donations.

     In a new article published in The Times on Sunday, a multinational financial services company hinted that it is working with an unnamed "bitcoin exchange or consumer platform" to launch a formal service in 2016.

Barclays chief design and digital officer Derek White offered few details about the partnership, other than to say the company is already in development.

     “Barclays is allowing bitcoin exchanges to help charities accept bitcoin,” White told The Times.

     The report also suggests that banks are increasing their efforts to understand and implement Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

     Earlier this year, Barclays revealed it was pursuing the concept through European exchange and services provider Safello, followed by news in March that it had accepted three industrial companies into its FinTech acceleration programme.