Bitcoin Forum

One of the features I really would like to offer in the forthcoming BitVendor program is the ability to process Bitcoin based debit cards. Right now, I know that market is pretty wide open but I'm wondering who the community thinks is the most stable player with the best long term outlook at the moment?

Thanks!
CryptFreak

That would be AurumExchange, except they don't have Debit Cards running right now. BitInstant also has a plan in the works, but one workaround for right this second is to sell through VirWox into PayPal and use their debit for translation, that's the quickest way I know of anyway.

BTCPak.com provides a service (that I believe to be stable) that sells MPs.  MPs can be used to reload a wide array of debit cards.

Get any reloadable prepaid creditcard that accepts ACH (there are over a dozen) and then you can use FastCash4Bitcoins to load your card by ACH.

Thanks for the replies so far. Checking out the options both of you brought up now.

What I'm really wanting is to find a service that offers a debit card that's linked to your Bitcoin wallet. BitVendor will have the ability (eventually) to accept regular credit and debit cards. I'm looking for a card that draws directly from your wallet so you can keep it all Bitcoin. Honestly, I think something like that is really needed in order to take Bitcoin into the 'real' world.

I'm going to talk to a couple of projects here and see what their plans are and if we might work together. If not, then it might be something that needs to be part of the BitVendor project itself.

Thanks!

That currently does not exist anywhere.  The closest thing would be BitInstant's credit card offering but there is no launch date and even then it is unclear if funds sent to the card would remain as BTC and converted as needed or if all funds sent to card are converted instantly to USD.

What you are asking is the "the holy grail" when it comes to BTC/CC and will would require a high level of integration with a very well capitalized company AND a merchant bank (i.e. a bank which has a license from MasterCard or VISA international).  It simply may not exist for a long time.

Don't forget about OKPAY, the Mediterranean online bank, or whatever you call it, with full bitcoin integration.

Not sure this is possible with the current credit processor network that exists.

BitInstant already stated that balances would be converted to USD and held in USD at the time of loading.  I was really hoping the balances would be held in BTC and only converted when used, but alas, no such luck!

Again just not possible currently. Unless someone in the BTC community decides to startup their OWN payment gateway, then don't expect to see this feature. The only way currently, is to keep USD funds on debit cards. The conversion will always take place prior to the debit purchase.