Barclays Bids Adieu to Coinbase; ClearBank Enters in, Move Likely to Save FPS Promises

The London based bank- Barclays and the crypto exchange- Coinbase are no more working together. Coinbase has moved on and found another UK based bank to work with- ClearBank, sources have revealed. The Barclays and Coinbase partnership could have connected the crypto exchange to the UK ‘Faster Payment Scheme (FPS), but that is no more going to happen. The users could have benefitted that instant withdraws and deposit of GBP otherwise. As a result of this change, the UK based users are facing slow transactions which are now taking days.

The situation is expected to improve, given Coinbase has formed ties with ClearBank. The bank is the source to restore the FPS hopes. The situation is expected to be sorted out maximum by November. No further information has been supplied on the situation by either Barclays, Coinbase, or by the ClearBank on this satiation.

Usually, the traditional banks abstain from risking the business with the still a new-comer player in the financial landscape- the crypto industry. When, last year, Coinbase got a green signal from Barclays, it was a big feat. Also, the UK’s FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) authorized the crypto exchange- the e-money license. It is anticipated that the bank felt unsure of the deal since then although nothing concrete is known as to why Coinbase and Barclays went separate ways.

As of now, only speculations are making rounds as to why the bank shifted directions. Some say that the bank (Barclays) is not ready to take risks, some say that the tie-up was for experiment sake and since it couldn’t fulfill the expectations, the two platforms have called it off.

It would be interesting to see how much heart ClearBank will show when it comes to the risks involved with venturing with a crypto exchange. After all, banks are traditionally based on a centrally controlled atmosphere; whereas the crypto exchange and the blockchain industry overall is more inclined towards the decentralized nature. Recently, Coinbase removed privacy-driven zCash from its list. It is speculated that the reason why the bank de-listed the coin was to synch with ClearBank’s views around total privacy.

Before Coinbase, back in 2016, Barclays announced that it is working with Circle Internet Financial- an FCA regulated app. This app used BTC for offering zero fees transfers, and the bank used to handle the deposits.

Coinbase, on the other hand, has worked with LHV Bank. They had a long term relationship. As per the statement from LHV-

“We have technically joined the Faster Payments scheme, but there are still some issues we have to work on and legal details to manage before we can start offering Faster Payments to our FinTech clients.”

ClearBank, on the other hand, has been working with the BCB Group (a crypto broker), which is a FAC regulated platform. The founder and CEO of BCB- Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie said-

“All our clients’ GBP funds clear within 60 seconds both ways via FPS; Bitstamp is likely to be set up internally to pass that benefit on to their GBP customers.”