- The award-winning crypto payment app MuchBetter halted all transactions.
- European customers report continuous reversals on bank withdrawals.
- MuchBetter’s card issuer is being investigated for money laundering.
MuchBetter, the electronic payment system, the first in the world to introduce dynamic CVV, suddenly stopped most provided services. The disruption of service enraged many European customers, who are fuming on Twitter after consecutive unsuccessful attempts at cashing out their funds. The all-around service disruption includes:
- All transfers to and from merchants worldwide.
- Top-ups are not available for EEA customers.
- Cards, fobs, and wearables are suspended.
While the issue of cashing out funds usually occurs when requesting a wire transfer, customers from European Union countries confirmed that crypto withdrawals to Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), and XRP (XRP) are constantly reversed, trapping users’ money on balance, but without any possible way of actually using it.
MuchBetter Partners Investigated by Bank of Lithuania
The disruption of service at MuchBetter comes just days after the Central bank of Lithuania suspended Payrnet UAB services, as the registered company is suspected of “severe and systematic violations of the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing.” Moreover, UAB MIR Lithuania served Payrnet UAB as an intermediary for card payment services, meaning that both companies are targeted with similar violations.
On top of that, the US Treasury Department threatened foreign banks with strict sanctions if they formed business partnerships with providers of MIR Cards, a state-subsidized payment system fully owned by the Russian government.
Bloody Russian Cards Unwanted by Neighbors
Indeed, the wave of sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department on all MIR cards in 2022 punished Russia for invading neighboring Ukraine; thus, all of the credit and debit cards with the Russian payment giant logo were rejected not only in the European economic area.
Ironically translating as “Peace” and “World” in Russian, MIR cards are now only used in countries going through major financial crises, for instance, Venezuela, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan.
Ultimately, even traditional business partners of Russia decided to get rid of these cards to avoid sanctions – Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Vietnam were among the first Asian countries to say no to payment cards provided by the official state sponsor of terrorism.
On the Flipside:
- UK customers reported successfully withdrawing funds after the services were halted.
- This might be due to the fact that MuchBetter in the UK was recently acquired by Rtekk.
- Hence, UK customers get their cards from PayrNet Ltd, not UAB PayrNet.
Why You Should Care:
EP Emerging Payments Awards have awarded MuchBetter as the Best B2C Payments Programme and Mobile Payment Solution of the Year by SBC Awards. MuchBetter also introduced the first-ever dynamic CVV code in fintech. The company’s services were liked for very low fees, fast crypto top-ups, and free transfers between members.
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