European payment processor Clear Junction drops Binance

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been in a tough spot for the past few weeks and the woes continue this week, with European payment processor Clear Junction halting transactions on the Binance platform.

London-based payment processing company Clear Junction has announced that it would no longer support transactions made to the Binance exchange. The move was in accordance with the warning issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Clear Junction, in a blog post, wrote, “Clear Junction can confirm that it will no longer be facilitating payments related to Binance. The decision has been made following the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent announcement that Binance is not permitted to undertake any regulatory activity in the UK.”

The payment processor said it would no longer support deposits or withdrawals in favour of or on behalf of the cryptocurrency exchange since the company complies with FCA regulations and guidance in regards to handling payments of Binance.

Clear Junction becomes the latest UK financial institution to ban Binance following the FCA’s order last month. The FCA banned Binance’s English incorporation, Binance Markets Limited, which the regulator said didn’t have the authority to operate in the region.

Binance had maintained that the ban only applied to Binance Markets Limited and not Binance.com, the exchange’s official global exchange. That hasn’t stopped financial institutions from banning withdrawals and deposits to the Binance platform. In recent days, Barclays and Santander banned their customers from using their credit/debit cards to buy cryptocurrencies.

Natwest Bank is another one that has limited how much its customers can deposit into their cryptocurrency exchange accounts. Binance is looking to hire a local ex-regulator in the UK to help it develop a framework to allow it to operate in the region without any hassle.