Santander UK has told its customers that it has stopped fund transfers to Binance until further notice. “Keeping our customers safe is a top priority, so we have decided to prevent payments to Binance following the FCA’s warning to consumers,” the business said in a Tweet on Thursday.
Santander is now the second bank to prohibit payments to Binance. Barclays has also suspended credit and debit card transactions with Binance until further announcement in a similar move. In addition, NatWest has stated that it will reduce the daily cap on how much money transfers to cryptocurrency exchanges. Both actions are a measure to guard against crypto frauds taking place in the United Kingdom.
The warning Santander is citing is a statement from the FCA that Binance Markets Limited lacks licence to do business. The company is also a member of the Binance Group, according to the statement. No other firm in the Binance group, the FCA explains, has permission to operate a regulated business in the UK.
The warning adds caution for would-be investors to “be wary” of anyone promising significant profits on cryptocurrency investments online. Many have questioned Binance Markets Limited’s objectives in light of this warning and eventual suspension in the United Kingdom. Surprisingly, the ban does not apply to Binance.com, the exchange from which banks are currently attempting to move away.
On Monday, Binance reacted with a tweet regarding the problems hurting their European operations. “It’s disappointing to learn that some partners are taking unilateral action to stop servicing Binance users based on what appears to be an inaccurate understanding of events.” The discussion goes on to say that the security of users’ money has always been a primary focus for Binance.
Binance maintains that the warning solely applies to BML, which is based in the UK.