- Binance Card will be discontinued in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Bahrain after Mastercard terminated its partnership with Binance
- The termination comes amid regulatory concerns and the withdrawal of contracts by UK and EU payment partners, affecting Binance’s reputation with financial institutions
- Users in these regions have until September 21 to empty their Binance Card accounts
Binance has confirmed that its crypto debit card, Binance Card, will be pulled from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Bahrain after Mastercard ended the partnership between the two. The Binance Card allows users to make payments in fiat currencies backed by their cryptocurrency holdings on the exchange, but Mastercard has decided to pull the plug on the partnership for undisclosed reasons. Users have until 21 September to empty their Binance Card accounts before the product gets closed down.
Mastercard Confirms Cancellation
Users in the affected regions had already gotten wind of the Binance Cards being discontinued, with a Binance Colombia user asking the exchange on X what had happened with the card. Binance replied that Latin America and the Middle East are set to have the services suspended:
Hello there,
The Binance Card will no longer be available to users in Latin America and the Middle East. The product, like most debit cards, has been utilized by Binance’s users to pay for basic daily expenses but in this case, the cards are funded with crypto assets. Only a tiny…— Binance Customer Support (@BinanceHelpDesk) August 23, 2023
Reuters confirmed this with Mastercard and printed the confirmation yesterday, although the company declined to say why it had pulled the deal. However, it is extremely likely that Mastercard doesn’t want to be caught up in the regulatory issues that have led Binance to be viewed as toxic by many financial institutions; the company’s UK and EU payment partners have failed to renew their contracts, leading to issues with customers in these regions removing funds to their bank accounts.
Just last week, Checkout pulled out of its deal with Binance, bringing the exchange’s Bfinity programme to a swift and unexpected conclusion.
The decision to pull out of Bahrain comes just weeks after its Dubai subsidiary, Binance FZE, was granted a local license, allowing the provision of exchange and broker-dealer services for institutional clients and “qualified retail investors.”
