Huobi Plugs Into EU's SEPA and UK Faster Payments Systems With Banxa Integration

Seychelles-based crypto exchange Huobi has integrated fiat-to-crypto payment service Banxa to its trading platform with zero fees, the firm announced Wednesday.

• The service will allow users in Australia, the U.K. and the European Union (EU) to purchase cryptocurrency on Huobi’s Buy Crypto page via payment methods available in their respective regions starting Oct. 15.
• Users can access the new payment gateway on the Huobi OTC site and purchase up to $20,000 worth of crypto in Australian dollars, pounds or euros to begin trading, and funds can be instantly added to a user’s account using bank transfers, debit or credit cards, and other preferred payment methods with zero fees, the announcement said.
• According to the announcement, users are also required to submit a one-time identity verification as part of the transaction process.
• In the U.K., users can access the service via Faster Payments bank transfers while customers in the EU can use the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiative and Australian users can purchase via payments platform POLi.
• Huobi, the world’s third-largest crypto exchange by derivatives trading volume, last month launched crypto savings products offering higher interest rates than traditional banking services.
• Digital banking infrastructure provider Banxa, with offices in Melbourne, Australia and Amsterdam, raised $2 million in a Series A round in January after partnering with Huobi rival Binance, and announced its intentions to expand to the U.S. in July.
• Banxa covers more than 150 countries, and oversubscribed its latest funding round by 100%, Liam Bussell, the firm's head of corporate communications, told CoinDesk following the publication of this article.
• Ciara Sun, Huobi Global's head of global business and markets, was set to reveal the integration Wednesday at CoinDesk's virtual event, invest: ethereum economy.

UPDATE (Oct. 15, 2020, 02:05 UTC): This article has been updated with additional comments from Banxa spokesperson Liam Bussell.