Binance Announces Termination of Visa Debit Card Services in European Economic Area
Summary:
Binance has announced the discontinuation of its Visa debit card services in the European Economic Area (EEA) starting December 20. The card, launched in the EEA in September 2020, allowed users to convert crypto from their Binance accounts into local currencies for purchases. The termination won't affect digital assets in Binance accounts. The move follows various challenges, including Binance's temporary suspension of euro deposits and withdrawals, and issues accommodating new users in the United Kingdom. Binance has also ended its partnership with Mastercard in several countries, citing regulatory hurdles.
The European Economic Area (EEA) will cease to have Binance Visa debit card services accessible after December 20, as announced by the leading cryptocurrency exchange on October 20. The digital assets held in Binance accounts will remain unaffected. In a customer notification released on the web, the crypto exchange reported the discontinuation of card issuance by Contis Financial Services, Binance's card provider. Contis is a Lithuanian firm dealing in electronic money and currency conversions, owned by Solaris Group, a German banking services platform operating across 30 European countries.
The Binance Visa debit card offers a method for consumers to convert digital currency in their Binance accounts into local currency, permitting them to use their crypto assets to make in-store and online purchases. The EEA unites all 27 member countries of the European Union along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
The Binance Visa debit card was launched in the EEA in September 2020, with future plans to make the card available in Russia and perhaps the United States. A spokesperson from Binance shared with Cointelegraph, stating that while Binance card users worldwide had found value in making daily transactions with digital currency, the change would impact about 1% of their users.
Following a chain of ongoing difficulties for Binance, the halt of Binance Visa services was declared just after the crypto exchange re-enabled euro deposits and withdrawals, which had been offline for the previous month due to issues with payment processor Paysafe. Currently, Binance is unable to accommodate new users in the UK following a third-party service provider complication.
In addition to the EEA scenario, Binance also suspended United States dollar deposits back in June, indicating a possible suspension of withdrawals as well. To facilitate US users, Binance entered into a partnership with MoonPay, allowing users to purchase Tether (USDT) on the platform. Earlier this week, Binance declared that its US customers could now withdraw dollars, by converting back to stablecoin from fiat currency.
In September, Binance also ended its partnership with Mastercard in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Bahrain. Regulatory hurdles were cited as the potential cause of this split.
Published At
10/20/2023 5:42:38 PM
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