Barclays blocks payments to Binance to “protect the money” of its customers

Barclays, a UK banking and financial services company, has decided to restrict “until further notice” payments to the Binance cryptocurrency exchange that are made with debit or credit cards. The entity officially announced the news this Monday, July 5, although warnings were already known since the previous week, and users showed their disapproval on Twitter.

The firm’s clients learned of this new restriction as early as last week, when some Twitter users they posted a message they would have received on the bank’s app. “Since you have made a payment to Binance this year, we want to inform you that we will suspend payments to them (Binance) with debit or credit cards until further notice,” the statement says.

Already during Monday, the bank’s user support account on Twitter was in charge of responding to complaints that began to arrive by this means. “It is our responsibility to protect your money. With this in mind, we made the decision to stop payments made by debit or credit card to Binance until further notice, to help keep your money safe. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, ” says the response, replicated in several different threads of this social network.

“The security of your account is a priority for us. For more information on Binance and crypto investments in general, please visit the website www.fca.org.uk says another tweet, which recommends consulting with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

So far, Binance has not officially reported anything, beyond a post with advice on responsible investment and the phrase “Good investors are not bettors”. Meanwhile, its CEO Changpeng Zhao he gave a glimpse of his opinion about it with a simple emoji of a pair of eyes as a response to a query from a user.

Feedback from Barclays customers

Enraged by the decision, customers of the British bank did not hesitate to express their discontent on Twitter. Concretely, what many argue is that Barclays does not restrict payments to bookmakers or the purchase of high value goods, but it does with an investment platform, as many of them consider Binance.

In this regard, user @hukaleksandra stated: “Barclays suspended my payments to a cryptocurrency exchange to” protect my money.” They had no trouble letting me gamble or buy expensive things, but they try to “protect” me from something I made a small fortune with, ” he wrote. “I know how to manage MY OWN money,” he added.

After several messages with the same tone, one of @banners82 also stands out: “Protect customers’ money or yours? Cryptocurrencies are a big threat to banks, ” you can read among several claims by people who would close their accounts at the institution.

Binance’s background in the UK

The recommendation to consult with the FCA is a constant in Barclays customer service messages, and it is no coincidence. It is because the UK government has taken several steps in recent weeks regarding cryptocurrencies and exchanges, among which Binance is one of the most visible.

As CriptoNoticias reported, the exchange was restricted from providing financial services related to cryptocurrencies in the region, since it is an activity only authorized for entities that have this permission. Given this, Binance began to dialogue with the authorities to adapt to the current legal framework, but in any case it continues to receive regulatory setbacks that limit the possibilities of its users both in Europe and the rest of the world.