Bank sent customers a notice that credit card payments to Binance are suspended until further notice
According to several tweets, British bank HSBC informed customers on Tuesday that it has blocked the ability to make transactions to Binance using credit cards. The bank cited the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) decision to prohibit Binance Markets Limited from operating in the UK as the reason for the move. Since that decision was issued, HSBC has been contacting customers to notify them of the upcoming change.
“We have informed HSBC customers in the UK about changes in this [crypto] space that may affect them,” a HSBC spokesperson said, according to reporting.
Declining to name specific examples, the spokesperson explained the bank’s focus on KYC and anti-money laundering standards.
“We will not comment on individual securities or crypto exchanges. We place particular emphasis on high anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) standards and are closely monitoring developments, customer demand and changing regulation in these markets,” the statement added.
HSBC’s action makes it another UK banking institution to restrict customer transactions with Binance. Spain’s Banco Santander and the UK’s Barclays were among the first major banks to block customer transactions for the same reason.
Binance has been facing a wave of regulatory decisions across multiple countries as cryptocurrency rules are clarified. Japan warned in early June that the exchange was operating illegally in that jurisdiction, followed soon after by the FCA’s warning.
HSBC’s decision, however, was not entirely unexpected given the current state of cryptocurrency markets and the bank’s stance toward the asset class. HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said in May that the bank would not trade Bitcoin as an asset. Earlier, the bank also blocked its customers from trading MicroStrategy shares because of that company’s exposure to cryptocurrencies.
Despite recent developments, Binance has not suffered major damage to its trading activity, with daily volumes remaining relatively stable. The biggest concern stemming from the UK’s regulatory stance toward crypto and Binance is the potential for that approach to spread to other countries. That scenario would be a significant blow to the exchange, since the majority of its customers are located outside the UK.