Binance to Stop Offering Debit Cards in Latin America and Middle East

Binance, the crypto giant that is widely followed in the crypto space, posted a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday (August 24), noting that it would stop offering its crypto-backed debit card service, Binance Card, in Latin America and the Middle East on September 21, 2023.

In the statement, the exchange mentioned that less than 1% of its users in the regions would be affected, and the move would not affect users' ability to access their accounts or engage in other crypto-related activities.

Binance further explained: "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...Users of this product will have until September 21, 2023, when the card will no longer be available for use. Binance accounts around the world are not affected. Where available, users can also shop with crypto and send crypto using Binance Pay."

Launched by Binance in 2021, Binance Pay is a new simplified alternative for crypto payment. The service now supports over 70 cryptocurrencies in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and the latest region, Brazil​.

Due to the increasingly strict regulation of the crypto industry in various countries, crypto companies, represented by Binance, have suffered setbacks one after another recently. Earlier this month, Payments processor Checkout.com announced that it would no longer service Binance. In addition, Binance Connect​, the regulated buy-and-sell crypto arm of the exchange, shut down last week.