Binance Australia partner hints at rising ‘scams’ after debanking exchange

Cuscal, the company that handles AUD on-and-off ramping for the exchange, declined to comment specifically on why it decided to pull support for Binance Australia.

The “third party payments provider” for Binance Australia, Cuscal hinted toward the impact of “scams and fraud” as it relates to “account fraud, ID takeover and crypto activity” after being questioned why it offboarded the firm on May 18.

The payments provider did not specifically address Binance or crypto exchanges in its statement to Cointelegraph and declined to elaborate on why it pulled support for Binance Australia specifically.

A spokesperson for the Sydney-based B2B financial services firm told Cointelegraph that it’s “focused on supporting the industry in protecting Australians from financial crimes and scams.”

“Following recent media attention in relation to the impact of scams and fraud in Australia with particular focus on account fraud, ID takeover and crypto activity, Cuscal reiterates its commitment and important role in identifying and implementing detection services for our clients across the Australian payments system,” the accompanying statement from Cuscal wrote.

Binance is suspending AUD fiat services in Australia.

Got this email this morning.

Very disappointing as it was one of my favourite on/off ramps.

Chokepoint is real.. pic.twitter.com/ZYiWY3aO0C

— Miles Deutscher (@milesdeutscher) May 18, 2023

It added it “has, and will continue to, terminate any clients or their customers and/or merchants” which do not meet its onboarding and compliance requirements.

It declined to comment specifically on Binance Australia or why it instructed its partner payments firm Zepto to “offboard” the exchange saying it doesn’t “have a comment on any other parties at this point.”

Related: Revolut launches business offering in Australia, seeks banking license

On May 18, Binance Australia said Australian dollar services were suspended “with immediate effect,” citing a “decision made by our third party payment service provider.”

We have confirmed with our local payment partner that our users can continue to withdraw AUD and we will update with any further changes on timing as we know more. Users are still able to buy and sell via debit and credit card. https://t.co/ReS6V7FbZu

— Binance Australia (@Binance_AUS) May 18, 2023

A Zepto spokesperson told Cointelegraph at the time that it “processes payments for Binance Australia” and “our partner, Cuscal, instructed us to offboard Binance.”

Binance Australia has been on the hunt for an alternative payments partner since. Binance said Zepto and Cuscal are continuing to support users wishing to withdraw AUD.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom