The Australian subsidiary of Binance has suspended Australian dollar services as its local payment service provider stopped support for the crypto exchange's service.
Binance Australia Faces Banking Troubles
According to a tweet on Thursday morning, Binance confirmed that the deposit services with PayID AUD were halted "due to a decision made by our third-party payment service provider."
Though withdrawals are working for the time being, Binance is expecting a disruption in its bank transfer withdrawals. However, it is unknown to the exchange when the withdrawal support will stop. The exchange is now looking for an alternative payment service provider in Australia.
"We understand from our third-party payment service provider that Bank Transfer withdrawals will also be impacted, and we will advise users on [a] timeline when this is confirmed," Binance added.
"You can still buy and sell crypto using credit or debit card, and our Binance P2P marketplace will also continue to operate as usual."
Banks Moving Away from Crypto, Again
Westpac, a major banking institution, banned its customers from making payments to Binance. According to the bank, the move came as a protection measure against scams.
"Digital exchanges have a legitimate role to play in the financial ecosystem. But, since the rise of digital currency, we’ve noticed that scammers are increasingly using overseas exchanges," said Scott Collary, Westpac’s Group Executive of Customer Services and Technology. "Often our customers only discover they’ve been scammed after the money has left the country, making recovery extremely difficult. The trial of our new security measures will better protect customers from scams."
Moreover, the US subsidiary of Binance is reportedly facing baking troubles after the collapse of its two banking partners, Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank. Though not confirmed officially, the US arm of the crypto exchange is using the services of at least one intermediary bank for holding cash deposits from crypto traders on the platform. However, the services of an intermediary bank rather than a direct banking partner slow the exchange services for customers like deposits and withdrawals of US dollars.
The latest trouble of Binance's Australia operations is not its first in the country. In April, Binance Australia Derivatives, operated by Oztures Trading Pty Ltd, lost its Australia Financial Services (AFS) license. Though the revocation of the license came at the exchange's request, its derivatives operation came under scrutiny after misclassifying 500 users as "wholesale investors."
