Wirex, a crypto payment service, has notified some of its customers through an email on June 23 that their debit cards may no longer function in the European Economic Area (EEA). This development follows the revocation of the license of UAB PayrNet, Wirex's bank card provider, by Lithuania's central bank. Similarly, competitor Cryptopay has also expressed the possibility of their cards being affected in the region. Wirex is a multi-currency crypto payment app offering fiat ingress and egress along with a debit card, and it clai ms to have more than 3 million users in Europe and Asia as of 2020.
According to the email sent to Customers, Wirex Explains that their Current Card Partner, UAB Payrnet, has enCountered an outage, Services for Eea Customers. However, Wirex Reassures Use that they can start access their funds through Other wirex methods, such as the IBAN service or transfers and purchases of cryptocurrencies through the Wirex app. Customers are advised not to take any action regarding this matter, as their funds remain securely held within the app and are unaffected by the card service issues.
Wirex clarifies that the issue lies with UAB PayrNet and not with any internal problems within Wirex's systems. The Central Bank of Lithuania announced on June 22 that it revoked UAB PayrNet's electronic money institution license, citing "serious, systematic, and multiple violations." Among the allegations, the central bank accuses PayrNet of inadequately enforcing anti-money laundering regulations, which could potentially enable illicit financing through its services. The Bank of Lithuania assures that customer funds are safe and protected in separate de dedicated accounts.
Attempts to contact UAB PayrNet for comment were unsuccessful, but according to a Google translation by Lithuanian news site Verslo Žinios, PayrNet's director, Stephenas Couttie, reportedly claimed that the central bank's actions were inadequate in response to the violation ations committed. This statement suggests that Couttie Believed PayrNet was being disproportionately and unfairly punished relative to the offenses committed. However, no official response from UAB PayrNet has been received as of the time of this report.
In an email to customers, Wirex announces its plans to switch its debit card services to Transact Payments Malta Limited. The transition process is already in progress and is being expedited due to the ongoing issues. Wirex assures customers that it is working diligently with PayrNet and Transact to restore the functionality of its debit card system as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) may experience temporary limitations on card usage. Over the past two years, Wirex has been expanding its services, including a partnership with 1inch in August 2022 to offer wallet-based token swap services and integration with Avalanche in February 2022, enabling users to deposit AVAX and utilize it with a debit card.
