In a statement issued Monday, payment services provider Paxum announced that it is taking “unprecedented action” to return its clients’ frozen Wirecard card funds itself.

In its statement, Paxum noted that last Friday, “Wirecard Card Solutions Limited regulatory activity was suspended by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)” and action which “unfortunately resulted in the immediate forced suspension of Paxum Branded Prepaid Mastercards and of any funds already loaded to the card.”

“In response to Friday’s news Paxum Inc immediately consulted with its lawyers to determine any options available to assist clients in regaining access to their card funds as quickly as possible,” the company said in its statement. “After a busy weekend of consideration and discussion with its lawyers, Paxum Inc CEO Octav Moise made the extraordinary decision that Paxum will return its clients frozen prepaid card funds itself, at Paxum’s own expense, to allow an immediate return of the available balance to affected card-holders rather than at a later, undetermined, date.”

Moise said that while Paxum knows “our clients would eventually get their funds back from Wirecard Card Solutions Limited,” the company doesn’t “want our clients to have to wait and suffer, especially considering how difficult life is for everyone right now with the Covid pandemic.”

“It might take weeks, months or even longer for this situation to be resolved and for FCA to release card-holder funds,” Moise said. “That’s why we are stepping in to make this right.”

Paxum said it is in the process of issuing email instructions over the course of the next few days to all affected clients explaining how to get their Paxum Branded Prepaid Mastercard card funds back. Once the funds are returned to their Paxum ewallet account, clients will be able to withdraw their funds through one of Paxum’s other options such as WIRE, EFT (local bank transfer), withdrawal to external card, or to the Paxum Unionpay Card. Clients that do not yet have a Paxum Unionpay Card can apply for the card directly inside their account.

“Just as Paxum allows you to pay with ease, we’ve also made this refund method as easy as possible for our clients,” Moise said. “Simply follow the instructions in the email and the available balance on your card will be returned to your Paxum account within approximately 48 hours so you can access or withdraw it in another way. Every affected client will receive an email with directions over the next few days.”