Review: Crypto Debit Cards

Hi lovely Steemians

Okay this one has been a long while coming (mostly because it wasn't about travelling, food or books), but I did promise it a while back and thought it might be useful for anyone starting to get into crypto..and this Steemit journey certainly forces that..even if you weren't into it to start with.

We had no portfolio a month ago when I started blogging on steemit.. and now we are growing a diverse range of crypto and even hopping in on crowdsales.

Now while hubby is keen to see the crypto grow... I am a typical woman and want to know how I can buy my next pair of shoes with it!

See we balance.. one saves, one spends..perfect!

So today I am going to give you a summary of some of the crypto cards out there that we have looked at. So if you are like me , a little minnow who just hopped on Steemit for some blogging fun and you are not all up on the high tech terms and concepts and don't know all the ins and outs of the crypto world, hopefully this helps.

If you are an expert.. my noob terminology might just make you shake your head and roll your eyes... you've been warned!

Being that I'm an Aussie first and foremost and teamaustralia is near and dear to my heart, let's start there with an Aus specific card.

CoinJar Swipe

This is Australia's first bitcoin EFTPOS card and it's powered by CoinJar. You can convert your bitcoin to AUD and make purchases anywhere that takes EFTPOS. Plus if they take cash only, you can withdraw it using the CoinJar Swipe Card at any ATM.

Right now though it is only for use within Australia.

Reviews in general are pretty good... like most things reviewed, it can be a matter of perspective on what you think are reasonable fees, reasonable time frames etc. Biggest issue seems to be the time for the money to be loaded to the card for use.

Fees

Printing and encoding card = $29
Delivery = free
Activating = free
Loading from the CoinJar wallet = free
EFTPOS purchase = Free
EFTPOS cash out = Free
ATM = Fee ranging from $2 depending on machine
Inactivity $4 month is you don't use it after 180 days
Dispute = $10 per incident
Replacement card = $29

Website: https://support.coinjar.com/hc/en-us/articles/202929225

I've got one on order and will do a full review of the experience from start to finish once I have it, load it and use it.

Cryptopay

Users can buy, sell and store bitcoins in Cryptopay’s bitcoin wallet on FLEX accounts. After connecting the bank account to the platform, users can convert EUR, GBP or USD amounts into bitcoins (not so great for Aussies).

The wallet is designed in a way to let the customers store the various currency amounts within the same account. This makes sending and receiving money from abroad a lot more comfortable experience.

Cryptopay uses Visa debit as opposed to EFTPOS so use it where ever VISA is accepted. A s well as a plastic card you can use "virtual cards" accepted in a lot of places. You can top up the balances with ordinary bank transfers as well.

Cryptopay is not available to be shipped to all countries (Aus is on the list) so you need to check the list of supported countries first.

Fees -

Shipping = Free
Foreign Transaction Fee = 3%
Monthly card maintenance = £ 1 / € 1 / $ 1 per month
Loading Fee = 1% (1.99% if loaded from a third party service such as Paypal
Domestic ATM transaction = € 2.25 / £1.75 / $2.50 fee.
International ATM transaction = €2.75 / £2.25 / $3.50 fee.

Website: https://cryptopay.me/bitcoin-debit-card

So I don't know about you but unless you are in the US Great Britain or Europe this is not the best option.. just fee, fees and more fees.

Wirex

This company was originally known as E-coin and rebranded to Wirex last year. Wirex provide a VISA or Master-card Debit Card that is accepted anywhere that accepts VISA and Master-card. The card can be loaded straight from the Wirex app. You can use third party apps like Paypal and Skrillex, and while the card is set up to only store Bitcoin it does integrate with Shapeshift to send most major cryptos to your account.

Fees -

Delivery = $17 or $50 with Tracking (US)
Purchase = Free
Foreign Transaction Fee = 3%
Domestic ATM transaction = € 2.25 / £1.75 / $2.50 fee.
International ATM transaction = €2.75 / £2.25 / $3.50 fee.
Compulsory SMS notification fee = £ 1 / € 1 / $ 1 per month
Inactivity Fee = Free
Pin change = £ 1 / € 1 / $ 1 per month

Website: https://wirexapp.com/

There is a petition at the moment, organised by @nolnocluap to get Wirex to have an AUD version so if you haven't signed it yet, get busy!
https://steemit.com/teamaustralia/@nolnocluap/online-petition-for-aud-denominated-wirex-bitcoin-cards-your-card-is-just-a-signature-away

Xapo

Xapo was actually one of the first companies to provide a Bitcoin Debit card, so in relative terms they've been doing this a while. You can use in-store like a VISA card, online or withdraw money from an ATM. Like most of the cards the currency is in EUR, GBP and USD.

Fees

Card Issue = € 18 / £13 / $20
Annual Fee = € 10 / £7 / $12
Purchase = Free
Foreign Transaction = 3%
Domestic ATM transaction = € 2.25 / £1.75 / $2.50 fee.
International ATM transaction = €2.75 / £2.25 / $3.50 fee.
Card replacement = € 10 / £7 / $12

Website: https://xapo.com/

As you can see most of the international cards are much of a muchness when it comes to fees and usage.

My thoughts are to have the CoinJar Swipe for local Aussie transactions and probably Wirex for use overseas and international transactions - given that one day they might get AUD and I can consolidate to one card.

Having said that there are a number of new ones that are flooding the market with apparently bigger and better features than what is currently available. Cards such as Paycent, Tokencard and TenX some of which currently have ICOs and will take Ethereum in addition to Bitcoin

I've got hubby hard at work investigating these options and will report back in a future post.

Til then

Steem on with Love and Light

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