With the US SEC case against Binance also gathering steam, Binance may be finding it hard to secure banking partners.
Binance has publicly announced that SEPA withdrawals will remain available for its European users. The exchange noted that the customer support message on X telling otherwise was “sent in error”.
According to the now-deleted customer service message, the exchange noted it was temporarily suspending EUR withdrawals and deposits through SEPA. This, it claimed, was due to the loss of its most recent European banking partner Paysafe.
Binance partnered with Paysafe in January 2022 after losing Barclays and Santander as banking partners in 2021. At the time, the exchange noted its services would become unavailable to its users in the European Economic Area (EEA) from September 25.
Consequently, it came as a shock to users to find their EUR withdrawals and deposits affected in August. According to an affected user, “Customer support (says) there is nothing I can do about it except wait for Binance to find a new payment provider.”
In response to this, Binance recommended that its customers continue buying crypto through their Visa Cards or its P2P platform. “We understand the inconvenience this has caused and we’re actively working to restore this as soon as possible,” it said.
Suspension of SEPA Withdrawals Attracts Criticism
While Binance has since denounced and deleted the message announcing the SEPA withdrawal suspension on X, the exchange has attracted criticisms from all over.
A Former SEC attorney, John Reed Stark, has mocked Binance’s plight. Mr. Stark noted that the development was disturbing.
“The SEC and FINRA should immediately send a team of auditors, inspectors and examiners to investigate what happened.” He then called to question the registration of Binance in the zone. Afterwards, he warned users that buying was at their risk.
Will Binance Find Another Banking Partner?
With the US SEC case against Binance also gathering steam, Binance may be finding it hard to secure a banking partner. Already, the exchange has had to deal with losing its banking partners in the United States and Australia.
A few days ago, the exchange also lost a UK-based payment processor Checkout.com. Checkout had concerns about regulatory actions against Binance in several jurisdictions. It also raised issues relating to Binance’s anti-money laundering, sanctions, and compliance controls.
If the regulatory concerns are not addressed, Binance may remain unable to find new banking partners and payment processors, affecting its n-ramp and off-ramp payments.
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