Binance Ends Visa Debit Card Service in Europe
- The Visa debit cards allowed Binance users to spend local currencies from any Visa merchants globally.
- Binance assured its users that their accounts would remain unaffected.
- Binance recommended its Binance Pay service as an alternative for its European users.
- The crypto exchange recently stopped onboarding new UK users as part of its plans to comply with a new UK policy.
Cryptocurrency trading platform Binance has informed its customers that its Visa debit card services will be shut down in the European Economic Area (EEA) on December 20. However, customer accounts will function as usual. The EEA includes Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and all 27 European Union member states.
Binance explained that its Binance debit card issuer, Finansinės paslaugos Contis, a Lithuanian electronic money institution, will no longer serve as its card issuer.
A Binance spokesperson said in a statement:
Binance Card will no longer be available as of December 20, 2023. Although Binance users from around the world have enjoyed using the card to make day-to-day payments with crypto assets, only around 1% of our users are impacted by this change. Binance accounts are unaffected and will continue to operate as usual.
The Binance Visa card enabled its users to use their crypto assets directly at any merchant accepting Visa globally. So, shutting down the service would mean European Binance users would have to find other means to spend their funds held in Binance. As an alternative, Binance urged its customers to use its peer-to-peer cryptocurrency payment tool, Binance Pay.
Binance has suffered a series of setbacks over the last couple of months. For example, the crypto exchange has stopped onboarding new UK users after losing its third-party payment service provider.
Binance has lost several partnerships with its payment partners. In September, Mastercard announced the end of its partnership with Binance to provide payment services in Colombia, Argentina, and Brazil. The payment service provider claimed Binance’s regulatory woes were a concern.
Another Binance partner, Checkout.com, ended its partnership with the exchange due to concerns that Binance aided money laundering and could face possible penalties. Surprisingly, Binance considered suing Checkout.com for what it deemed a wrongful termination of contract.
Binance resumes Euro deposits and withdrawals
Today’s announcement comes hours after Binance announced the resumption of euro deposits and withdrawals one month after suspending the service. Binance revealed in a statement on October 19 that it had secured a new deal with new fiat partners to help process euro withdrawals and deposits.
The crypto exchange was compelled to hunt for new banking partners after losing its collaboration with PaySafe in September due to regulatory and debanking issues within the European Union. Binance stated that some of its users have begun switching to the new services offered by its “new regulated and authorized fiat partners.”
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