Are all credit card companies discriminating against cryptocurrencies?
There has been a lot in the news recently about several credit card companies banning the use of their card to buy cryptocurrencies.
https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/03/banks-ban-credit-crypto-purchases/
My card company isn’t one of them. I decided to buy the dip and made use of cryptopay’s new credit card option to get some bitcoin. Twice. The transactions went through without any problems.
Here I should state that I use my credit card more like a debit card. I only buy things when I have the money for it, and have a standing order set up so that the bill is paid in full each month. I have always done this. This doesn’t make me a good credit card customer for the bank, as they earn from the interest charged when people go beyond their means and pay in instalments. To encourage me to break this habit of paying in full, in the past they a) kept increasing my credit limit to the point where at one time it was more than I earned, and b) rang me to offer me a second card on my account that I could give to a friend/family member. Eh? Naturally I declined. (Ironically, at that time I was with MBNA, who are one of the companies banning people from using the card to buy crypto at the moment.)
So for me, a credit card is just a convenient way to pay.
A few days later I went online to book a flight to Canada for a family wedding. I found one that other family members were travelling on for €750. I booked, got a confirmation number, but also an email from the airline saying that my card hadn’t processed. Later I got another email to say that the booking had been cancelled.
I didn’t have time to rebook until a few days later. Same problem. Eventually (I am the queen of procrastination) I rang my credit card company. Turns out they had blocked my card. Because of the cryptopay transactions. Because they wanted to make sure that it was me that made them, the nice man in customer service said. He also said that they sent me an SMS, but I didn’t receive anything from them. I confirmed that the transactions were mine, and the card was unblocked.
So I went back to book my flight. And it had gone up €500. Aaaagghhh!
In the long run I know it doesn’t matter – the bit of bitcoin I bought will return the €500 to me. But in the short term it’s really, really annoying!
The moral of the story: If you use your credit card to buy Bitcoin on Cryptopay, be aware that your company might put a (temporary – until you contact them) block on your card. I’m sure my company isn’t the only one.
Onwards and upwards…
As as an update: my credit card company charged me interest for it as a cash withdrawal...