Starting today, Coinbase customers in the UK will be able to seamlessly move GBP in and out of their accounts using the Faster Payments service. In most cases, this will mean almost instant access to funds. Until now, the process was quite tedious – you had to send GBP via international bank to Coinbase US that took several days and was more expensive. Now, you will be able buy cryptocurrencies using British pound using your local bank.
Adding local support was not easy. Coinbase had to obtain an e-money license for their fiat operations from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and adding support for the Faster Payment Scheme.
Now, Coinbase has become the first cryptocurrency trading platform to obtain a bank account with a major UK bank.
Faster payments will benefit all UK customers, enabling almost immediate transfers. This is essential for Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Prime customers in particular who will now be able to transfer funds quickly.
Coinbase, Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Prime GBP support is now live for some of their existing customers, and the company will continue rolling this out to all UK customers in the coming weeks.