Binance Partners With Paysafe, Resumes SEPA Transfers
- The exchange suspended SEPA bank transfers from the E.U. back in July 2021, saying it was “due to events beyond our control”.
- The SEPA rollout will be phased, starting from Belgium and Bulgaria, before expanding to other countries in the E.U..
Shutterstock
Popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance has partnered with payments company Paysafe, enabling it to reinstate payments from the European Union’s Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA), the company said in a blog post on 26 January.
According to the announcement, partnering with Paysafe will once again allow Binance to accept SEPA transfers — a system that allows users to make cashless euro payments anywhere in the E.U. through bank accounts — from the E.U.. The exchange “temporarily” suspended SEPA bank transfers back in July 2021, due to “events beyond our control”. Binance wrote in its blog post:
“Binance has partnered with Paysafe to launch the pilot program for EUR Deposit and Withdrawal via the SEPA payment network, effective 2022-01-26 13:00 (UTC). Users are selected based on a range of testing criteria to participate in the pilot program. The full re-opening of SEPA channels will scale up across the markets in due course.”
A “person familiar with the matter” told Bloomberg the process of reinstating SEPA transfers has already started, and that the phased rollout will begin with Belgium and Bulgaria, before expanding to other areas. The U.K., which left the E.U. back in January 2020, will not be included in the SEPA reinstatement.
A Paysafe spokesperson confirmed the partnership, saying Binance will use the company’s digital wallets technology, and that Paysafe will essentially act as a fiat on-ramps partner for the exchange in Europe. In its SEPA FAQ page, Binance also informed users that for now it will only support SEPA transfers from personal accounts, though it is currently working on enabling the feature for corporate accounts.
- The popular crypto exchange has decided to sell its business in Russia to CommEX, a crypto exchange business that was officially launched on Tuesday.
- Binance noted that it will fully exit the Russian market, and have no ongoing revenue split or any option to buy back shares in the business.
Shutterstock
- The company said it will be suspending its crypto-backed debit card service in the Middle East on 25 August, and in Latin America by 21 September.
- Although no reason was given for the decision, the company noted that “less than 1% of users” in those regions will be affected by the change.
- A spokesperson said the change was due to the “changing market and user needs”, and that Binance will now be refocusing its resources on its main products and long-term goals.
- Launched in March 2022, Binance Connect helped crypto businesses connect with the traditional finance system, and supported 50 cryptocurrencies and networks such as Visa and Mastercard.