Key takeaways:
- The Binance Visa debit card service will be terminated in Europe as a result of regulatory scrutiny and budget cuts.
- Current cardholders within the European Economic Area would retain the ability to use their cards until December 20.
The Binance Visa debit card service will be terminated in Europe as a result of regulatory scrutiny and budget cuts.
It has been reported by Bloomberg that Binance is pulling its Visa debit card service from Europe. The choice was made as Binance deals with heightened regulatory scrutiny and withdrawals from significant financial partners.
As per the report, current cardholders within the European Economic Area would retain the ability to use their cards until December 20. The Binance Visa Card is no longer accepting new applications, nevertheless.
A representative for Binance estimates that this modification will have an impact on 1% of Binance users. Users were able to exchange and spend cryptocurrency at more than 60 million online and physical retailers worldwide with the Binance Visa Card. Users across Europe, including France, Germany, and Spain, were able to access it.
With Visa having stopped issuing new co-branded cards with Binance in Europe since July, Binance and Visa have trimmed back on their partnership. The action came in response to mounting regulatory pressure on Binance from US authorities, such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
For violating securities rules, the SEC has filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), while the CFTC has charged the business with permitting access to the exchange for US users against the rules.
Binance has had difficulty keeping up ties with conventional financial institutions. It stopped accepting some bank transfers in Australia and was disconnected from the US financial system early this year. In addition, Binance terminated its Binance Connect service, which let companies take Visa and Mastercard payments in cryptocurrency.
Along with these departures, the company has also lost a number of executives. Most recently, Saulius Galatiltis, the CEO of Binance-affiliated payment processor Bifinity UAB, resigned.
