The leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it is discontinuing its Binance-branded Visa debit card offering in Europe on December 20 due to growing regulatory pressures.
In a letter to customers, Binance said its card issuer, Contis Financial Services, will stop supporting the European Economic Area (EEA) debit card program next month. The EEA covers all 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
The company offered assurances that Binance accounts themselves will be unaffected by the card program shutdown. However, the escalating regulatory obstacles Binance faces across jurisdictions continue to undermine its global growth.
The Binance Visa card allowed users to convert crypto funds held on the exchange into local fiat currencies for real-world spending and ATM withdrawals. The service was rolled out in the EEA in September 2020, with plans to expand it globally.
But in a statement, Binance acknowledged that only around 1% of its total user base actively utilized the Visa debit card. The company did not provide further details on what prompted the abrupt winding down of the offering.
However, the move comes amid intensifying regulatory issues faced by Binance across Europe, U.S. and the UK in recent months.
Just this week, Binance announced new partners to handle euro transactions again after being dropped by Paysafe in September. It remains banned from onboarding new UK customers as well.
The cascading loss of key banking and payment partners has severely hampered Binance’s ability to provide fiat on-ramps critical to its exchange business.
While crypto debit cards represent a small piece of its operations, limiting services due to banking difficulties risks further eroding Binance’s footprint in Europe.
Meanwhile, in August, Binance reportedly suspended crypto debit cards in LATAM & the Middle East.
The reason is tied to regulation issues as well as problems associated with crypto debit cards in Colombia.
Similarly, in July, Binance suspended multichain token deposits and withdrawals. According to the company, this development was in response to unforeseen situations with protocols like Multichain that can lead to extensive disruptions to normal services.
Also Read : Binance suspends its futures In Brazil to comply with regulations.
