Choosing a Crypto Card?
A crypto card is an essential financial tool, significantly accelerating the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency, and offering the chance to abandon traditional cash and fiat currencies completely. With a crypto card, you can make purchases in retail outlets worldwide or online, paying for goods and services with digital assets.
Crypto cards vastly ease transactions for those holding digital assets. Typically, these cards are linked to wallets containing stablecoins or recognized cryptocurrencies, enabling holders to settle bills just like using a regular bank card. For the crypto card holder, the difference is barely noticeable.
The unique distinction lies in the clearance mechanism. Each payment operation automatically converts the prioritized cryptocurrency into the local fiat currency, which the merchant then receives in their bank account. This occurs if they wish to receive payment in fiat. But if they prefer not to, the cryptocurrency from the customer's wallet gets transferred into the merchant's wallet, potentially yielding additional profit. This would occur if the transferred asset, such as Bitcoin, increases in value, providing the merchant with operational profit and additional investment income.
Cryptocurrency cards are now widely issued by financial firms worldwide under the banner of major payment systems like Visa and Mastercard. These payment titans have wisely recognized the importance of leveraging trends rather than opposing them. Therefore, it's essential to consider not just traditional banks and fiat currencies, as this may lead to missed profits and lost dominance in this emerging market segment. Other players, like JCB, American Express, and UnionPay, might also find this sector intriguing.
So, currently, cryptocurrency cards are not just for paying bills, but they can also be used to withdraw cash from ATMs when necessary. There are indeed no limitations!
Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Crypto Card
Firstly, it's important to understand which cryptocurrency cards are available in your region and whether you can order them, either in a physical or digital format, from within your country.
Also, the following factors can greatly differ:
- The fee for issuing the card (which includes its production and delivery)
- The annual maintenance cost
- Transaction fees such as for conversion, cash withdrawals, and so forth
- The number of cryptocurrencies supported
- The number of fiat currencies supported
- The percentage of cashback offered on purchases
- Limits on account top-ups or fund withdrawals
- Maximum transaction amount
- Maximum balance allowable
- The level of anonymity and the extent of the KYC procedure needed.
Choosing and Comparing Cryptocurrency Card Providers
Cryptocompare is an excellent online platform to select cryptocurrency cards. You can compare the terms and conditions for the issuance and maintenance of nearly 50 payment products. In the comprehensive table, you can compare product type, brand, payment system, level of anonymity, the presence of instant top-up options, card issuance cost, monthly maintenance cost, cash withdrawal fee, and conversion charges. Detailed information is made available once you select a specific product.
Key terms and fee structures. Source: Cryptocompare, "Cards" section
What's handy is that you can order the card straight away. To do this, choose the "Buy now" option. This will take the crypto asset owner to the card registration page on the issuer's website. From there, after completing the authentication process and filling in the necessary details, you'll be able to learn all the particulars about ordering, paying for, and receiving the cryptocurrency card.
Cryptocurrency Scratch Cards
Besides the traditional payment cards, another variation exists — the scratch card. These are designed for recharging the balance on a specific crypto exchange or within a wallet. These cards are available in physical and virtual formats. You can purchase a physical card in stores, while the virtual ones are available on the web.
Such cards are an ideal gift option. They provide an opportunity for those eager to dive into the realm of digital finances, allowing them to purchase cryptocurrencies, engage in exchange trading, and earn passive income through staking. To do so, one just needs to activate the card and refill the balance.
A prime example of such a product is the WhiteEX scratch card offered by Europe's largest crypto exchange, WhiteBIT.
WhiteEx offers the simplest way to recharge your balance on the WhiteBIT cryptocurrency exchange using a scratch card. Source: whiteex.com
