The FCA Move to Shutdown Wirecard Left Vulnerable Populations Without Access to Food

There is more blowback in the UK over the decision by the FCA to temporarily shut down Wirecard Card Solutions (WCS) thereby causing many fintechs and others to go offline; the result of this was that some of the country’s most vulnerable people were unable to buy food or access basic services for several days; apparently the regulator did not have complete information about who would be affected by the shutdown of WCS; several WCS customers such as Pockit and Morses Club’s U Account are focused on underserved communities without access to mainstream banking services; one example cited involved the Salvation Army and payments they make to victims of human trafficking on behalf of the government; they use debit cards issued by B4B Payments which in turn relied on Wirecard as the ultimate issuer of its cards; it demonstrates how interwoven and complex supply chains have become. Financial Times.