London-based banking platform Cashaa has updated its offering that caters to people and businesses that are in need of crypto-friendly banking services. As the new came into effect, Cashaa is introducing a new banking account entitled “Crypto Business/Broker”.
Cashaa said a wave of new regulations is introducing stricter requirements for companies operating in the cryptocurrency industry. The announcement cites, in particular, measures stemming from EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive ().
The new business accounts will have coded policies and systems to mitigate the regulators risk since the offering caters to crypto firms registered worldwide, not only UK or EU-based entities. The accounts will allow them to accept both fiat and cryptocurrency payments, but before that individual and corporate entities will have to tick all the due diligence boxes of each sender/receiver when doing transactions.
The online bank’s “Crypto Business/Broker” plan includes a UK current account, Swift and SEPA payments, linked Mastercard and the ability to issue Iban numbers to customers. It also offers access to Britain’s Faster Payments Scheme, a network used by the traditional financial industry, as well as the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS).
comes with cryptocurrency conversion up to £200 million and supports deposits and withdrawals in over 200 currencies, including the buck, euro, pound, and Indian rupee.
The newly featured resource will allow crypto and blockchain-related operators to create their own retail banking experience. The FCA-licensed firm says the new offering while provides financial management services to digital asset operators; it will also reduce the risk to end-customers and make the cryptocurrency transactions more secure.
Banks remain hesitant to serve cryptos
“The Fifth Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) became compulsory for European state from 10th Jan 2020, resulting inFCA to become the AML and CTF supervisor for crypto businesses. Based on my experience, the situation will get worse for many crypto companies out there who do not understand the implications,” said Archit Aggarwal, CPO Cashaa.
Cashaa, which has a physical presence in 14 countries, was launched three years ago by Indian entrepreneurs to operate as a P2P money transfer and crypto trading service. India and the UK are their primary markets.
The crypto markets woke up last year to the news that Coinbase’s was under threat in its largest market in Europe. Shortly after, an online report started circulating and suggested that the San Francisco-based exchange found a replacement UK banking partner in ClearBank.
The most noticeable hurdle, however, will be losing access Faster Payments which simplifies the process of topping up and withdrawing money from Coinbase.
Coinbase’s UK subsidiary already holds an e-money license by the UK’s FCA, which was a precursor to getting the banking relationship with British banks. Previously, UK users had to transfer pounds into euros and go through an Estonian bank, which could take a few days.
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