London (CNN Business) Hundreds of thousands of people and businesses have been locked out of accounts linked to Wirecard after Britain's financial watchdog ordered the collapsed digital payments company to suspend UK operations. The Financial Conduct Authority on Friday suspended the operations of Wirecard Card Solutions after its parent company filed for insolvency in Germany following the discovery of a $2 billion hole in its accounts. Wirecard Card Solutions provides technology and payments processing services to dozens of UK digital account and prepaid card providers, which have been forced to suspend services to customers. "Our primary objective is to protect the interests and money of consumers who use Wirecard," the FCA said in a statement. Customers of startups such as ANNA Money and Pockit cannot use their accounts to pay for purchases or withdraw money from ATMs.

Source: CNN June 29, 2020 15:00 UTC