Epayments, one of the largest payment providers in the U.K., has halted operations after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) suspended the company for “weaknesses” related to its anti-money-laundering (AML) process. Since Epayments shut down on February 11, customers have been complaining because they cannot access their money. Reports also detail that if the firm becomes insolvent, Epayments clients won’t be protected by any type of FCA-regulated insurance fund. Additionally, a non-executive director who resigned last week was once the head of cards and payments at Locke Lord, a law firm that represented Onecoin’s ‘cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova.
Also read: New Regency Television Wins Screen Rights to Onecoin Story – The Missing Cryptoqueen
UK Firm Epayments Suspends Services – Over £100 Million in Client Funds Believed Inaccessible
Epayments was a very popular payment processor based in the U.K. and estimates say the firm held £127.5 million of customer funds. However, the company suspended operations due to an FCA mandate that said the firm had “a number of weaknesses” tethered to its AML system. The suspension has neutered Epayments’ ability to facilitate payments and customers cannot use their prepaid cards or withdraw and transfer funds.
The FCA-regulated company claimed it had over a million registered clients and handled more than 1,000 business accounts as well. The Epayments website displays a notice that explains why it suspended operations and notes that the FCA said while they investigated Epayments AML system controls, they “identified a weakness that required remediation.” The Epayments notice also states:
We know this will be a very frustrating time for our customers. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and are working tirelessly to ensure improvements
