Banking giant Santander based in the United Kingdom, has yesterday banned payments to cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
This unfortunate turn of events was broken to after the bank emailed its customers informing them of the development.
‘We’re stopping payments to Binance for your protection. We want to let you know that from 8 July 2021, we’ll be stopping payments from Santander accounts to Binance wherever possible. This follows the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s recent warning to consumers and is to help protect you from fraud. For now, we won’t be restricting payments from Binance into your account(s). We’re taking this step as we want to do everything we can to protect you and help keep your money safe. Well, continue to monitor the situation, and let you know if anything changes.’
Stringent Regulations over Crypto Custody
The Financial Conduct Authority has banned Binance Market Limited from undertaking any regulated activities in the UK without prior written consent.
The FCA reports noticing a rise in the number of advertisements online promising high returns on crypto-asset investments. Most of these firms are not authorized by the FCA and consequently means the number of fraud cases is on the rise.
Meanwhile, the bank has promised to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly.
Notably worthy, the FCA banned UK’s Binance entity, Binance Markets Limited (BML), but the limitations expected will not affect the actual crypto exchange, Binance.com.
The world’s largest trading exchange remains that its services in the UK will not be adversely affected despite all circulating warnings.
In the same spirit, Barclay’s bank has also halted credit/debit card payments to Binance following the FCA notice regarding Binance Market Limited earlier in the week.
Speaking to The Block, a Binance spokesperson expressed disappointment in Santander’s decision to ban them, saying, “We are disappointed that Santander appears to have taken unilateral action based on what appears to be an inaccurate understanding of events.”
