Bitcoin Forum

If you've spent any time looking for prepaid Bitcoin debit cards, you know that there are many different options out there. Some are Bitcoin-only, others accept altcoins, and some are based on specific countries. After evaluating the various options, I was looking for two things:

1) Low fees (or none) for converting BTC/depositing to the card
and
2) No dormancy fees

#2 was mainly because I likely won't be using it often, and think it's a little ridiculous to charge people just to even have an account, whether it's used or not. On top of this, some implementations will put your account into the negatives if you already have a zero balance!

BitPay fit both of these, with no fees for depositing BTC (you can see the conversion rate on their exchange chart), as well as zero fees for holding the card. On top of this, they are one of the cheaper options, coming in at under $10 for a card. To see the full fee schedule, check it out here (https://bitpay.com/card/resources/Fees.pdf).

Some key features that I especially like are:

*Purchase Limits $10,000/DAY
*Cash Withdrawal Limits $3,000/DAY
*$750/TRAN
*Load Limit $10,000/DAY
*Maximum Card Balance $25,000
*Card to Card Transfer Limit $500/DAY

For pretty much all of us, this is more than good enough.

After deciding this was absolutely the path I wanted to take, it was time to set up an account. A fast and easy process, it does require personal information (as per KYC/AML), but no more than necessary. Once you've signed up, you're taken to the payment page, which shows exactly what to send in, and it's confirmed after you send the funds.

There is a little confusion after, since you don't technically have an account yet -- you make one when you get the card. And the card itself comes in a nondescript envelope, much like a credit card or other debit card would.

After receiving the card (mine took about a week), you set up your account and you're ready to roll. You can send funds through the site (using the BTC address) or use the BitPay wallet to do so. Here, you can send based on how much USD you want credited OR send x BTC and it will convert for you, so there are options there. And you can view your live balance within the BitPay wallet at any time. Confirmation comes quickly, and you're ready to spend your coin! And because it is attached to your identity, you can use all services (even things like PayPal, for example).


I mainly wanted to share this because the process was much easier than I expected it to be, it's a lot more full-featured, and it's the best option I've seen for those in the West. The lack of account fees (just for holding a card), cheap card cost, and no fees for depositing BTC are HUGE. I love when companies do things well, and I wish BitPay a long and happy life, :).

iam never use bitpay
because my country indonesia not supported and not accepted to join bitpay.com, iam not understand why iam register and want verified account always rejected this reason my country not supported

Ahh, sorry to hear that. There are actually more options for you if you're not in the West. Sadly, for those of us who are, our options are limited (tried to sign up to multiple cards in the past, only to find out there's a block due to country).

If there is a max balance limit of $25k, what about in bitcoins? If you had ~30 BTC, only ~25 BTC can be loaded onto the card? (only using the amounts as an example).

Yeah, but that's at once. So if you're spending, you can cycle through BTC. Also, I think you may be able to open multiple cards if needed, though I'm not 100% sure on that.

Everything is fine, only one thing which I don't like is 2$ fee on withdraw, it's way too much (On my card fee is 0.2$). Also it seems card is mostly for active members because dormancy fee is 25$ in month after 90 inactive days and if you have this card you mustn't be inactive :D
Thanks for share and is this possible to own this card in another country? Because I also saw here that we can load money with western union.

I thought $2+ was the norm. Even local banks charge more than that.

The dormancy fee I didn't notice before. I got clarification, though: if you fund the card, that counts as an action. So every 90d just send $1.00 to it (1 mBTC or less now) and you pay no fee, :).

There's a lot more hassle for a Bitcoin debit card provider than one linked to a conventional bank account. I assume every time you use it you're triggering a Bitcoin sale.

There seem to be a lot of providers. Seems like a wonderful way to do a long con/ exit scam so I'd only consider somewhere of the calibre of Bitpay or Coinbase. I assume they're still US only which is no use to me.

unichange Bitcoin Visa card is quite good! https://unichange.me/debit_cards
It supports many methods to fund the card, like bitcoin，BTC-e USD，litecoin ，Perfect Money, OkPay, FasaPay with low fees.

I agree, and also they support many countries, including Indonesia  :)


cengsuwuei, I suppose you should try to apply to that card. Oh... they even have indonesian version of the website.

No use to a lot of people. Also, I agree that it could easily be a long con whether they appear to be a legitimate business right now or not. Don't bring up coinbase lol. I've seen a lot more unresolved issues with them lately.

It seems like an ok option but I still would never use a bitcoin debit card. Why? My bitcoins are private and the cards are not. They have all of your ID that they are legally required to obtain so if I get a transaction that's not declared on my taxes and spend it I'm fucked.

I agree with  above with other members the idea of bitcoin debit are  a good idea and a easy way to get hold of you funds but like a few site they want id to get the card that to take the main point of bitcoin out the window bitcoin ment to be an anonymous currency. With them having your id then your annomise goes out the window.
there is a couple of card that are annoymouse
I would stick to them if you what you bitcoin in a card format

You don't convert on the fly when making purchases... you deposit BTC, which is then converted. So it is no different than sending to an exchange to sell, only you cut out the middleman (as with an exchange you're doing wallet -> exchange -> transfer -> spend, rather than just sending to card -> spend.

I think they accept USA only. Do you have a VISA with a Bitpay logo or those ugly grey cards wich make us look like a poor guy ?

I didn't realise that. That's kind of sucky as sometimes you want to spunk your enormous gains. Still, I suppose it at least locks things in at a certain price.

I don't think it should be any issue. if you can only load 25BTC once that not bad at all. I don't think anyone here will spend that much BTC. if you are sending btc just to store there than better use a secure wallet instead of using any card accounts.

That is good that you cleared that up because that is a lot really to have a card not in use.
I think the one that I have adds $2 every 30 days of not being loaded. Then when it is, the amount for this dormancy fee will be deducted from the loaded amount. Which sucked when I heard about it but if this one is every 90 days that isn't so bad and it's only a mbtc to keep it active. :D

I think this one is much better than bitpay, because in bitpay limited country exclusive for western nation only. Unlike in unichange.me  much more capable to give their service and extend it to some other Asian country. I'd Like to try buy this one, :)

Well the dormancy fee isn't quite so bad... Anyway I got a question. When you put your money on this card does it work like a wallet and you can withdraw your BTC if you change your mind for example or when I put my BTC to the cardI can only withdraw on ATM ?

I 100% get where you're coming from, and I do agree to a certain extent, but... For example, right now all of my income is currently being paid to me in BTC, so this is a great option.  Now if I didn't want 100% of my income linked to my BitPay Visa, I can easily make that happen.  As should anyone else who finds themselves in this situation.  If you have plenty of $$$ in your bank, in your back pocket, under your mattress, then you don't really need this service I guess.

I believe in privacy and anonymity.  Anonymity was not the "whole point" of BTC, it was just a great optional feature.  I say optional because is you make it.  It can be anonymous if that's your desired end result.  Or you can choose to attach your name to an addy and submit docs... It goes both ways.  Options are great.

This is an awesome question!  I'd like to know this too as I'm still waiting for my card to arrive.  I'll do some research and reply back when I have an answer.  Maybe someone else here already knows it?

"After you load funds to your BitPay Prepaid Visa® Card the value will remain in US dollars." from faq (https://bitpay.com/card/faq) i think it means one can't do usd to btc conversion or am i wrong?
Can't get a card for myself because ain't available here, i will apply for a card once it's available in my country.  :)

Sadly BitPay Visa is only for US citizen so a big no for me. But after all no problem, there are plenty of others providers with the same features and limits. when you compare with others they all have more or less the same fees ect. So i gone at other place. No idea why they limit to only americans people.

I'm actually got interested to BitPay when I used it in one of my purchase online. They are the payment provider for that site. I researched about it and stumbled upon their card. It looks promising from the details that you provided but unfortunately, my country is not eligible to have these type of card. As you may have known, this is for US-resident only and that's a bummer. I would love to use this card but the restrictions are hindering me for using it. Hopefully, they'll add more countries in their serviceable area and that'll definitely attract more customers.

It's a shame that BitPay only allow US residents a card.

A while ago I saw a company that did something similar (Bitcoin credit cards) and it was based in the UK. Does anybody know which it was?

i dont use bitpay Visa also, because it is not allowed here in our country and not supported by the government. Also im a not US citizen, so maybe only US citizen can give some information about bitpay visa if they love to used it or not, but nothing to worry since there are many like this that will provide the needs of the users and features of it.

Anyone knows if you can add the card to your PayPal account and withdraw funds from there? I know it's possible with Xapo card and others (since they are all Visa cards) but just wondering if this is possible in BitPay.

Not entirely sure about this. I do know you can use it on PayPal sites though. Just not sure how withdrawing and PayPal tie together.

hello, I can see my wallet but cant attach it to card any ideas on what to do?
tried synching etc. same deal. I have email sent to support. They are saying 1 to 2 biz days.

So if I get this card, how do I deposit money in it?

Hi let me ask if someone alreadyvis bitpay visa card if it would work for verification in paypal and use for purchasing services online or buying stuff online?
Planning to use this for buying services because my debit card not work when using it for verification in some account in seo..
Do you think this one will work and for paypal verification?
And i would like to know if bitpay also when converting to usd to to deposit in paypal?

I have a problem with this card. I ordered bitpay card about two months ago. I paid for it and I havent received it. I sent them a few emails but I cant get a clear answear :/ What should I do?

I know this card since long and wanted to have one but as usual this is not supported in my country. They offered only USD, EUR currency and there charges in that currency is heavy for me. The limits for the currency are great anti is ideal card for those who have lots of assets in the alt coin and bitcoin form. Just imagine simply swiping your crypto card and making transactions from the block chain straight to the end user would be so easy.


You must be having good time using it and personally speaking must be very cool to have it infant of your friends and family! :-)

What about BTC exchange rate? I see lots of these card companies offer low or almost no fees but when you try to sell your BTC to transfer money to your card, the exchange rate is $150 lower compared to the market rate. Wirex is absolutely the worst there, over $200 under market BTC price. Dont use Wirex ever.

Not really sure on this one... I only had one support request and it was answered in a few days. Maybe try again. Not sure what you mean by a "clear answer" though...?


Their rate is on par with any other (and in a lot of cases seems higher). You can see the rates here: https://bitpay.com/bitcoin-exchange-rates

And no 0.5%+ fee like others would charge.


It doesn't convert on the fly -- you have to transfer funds to it prior to the purchase (which is credited as USD). That said, I know people that have even done their transfers while in a store and were able to use the cards. I think it's one confirmation, so YMMV on that. Once someone I know had a 1.5h delay but that was because of a slow block.

The card looks loaded with pretty cool features but is it accepted in the asian countries? What if I travel abroad and use in the Asia will it be accepted in the ATM terminal present there or it is just to be used over the internet virtually? I have seen similar case with tenx and crypto pay but not sure on how these cards work from the blockchain. What if I’m supposed to get real cash ? Will it dispense met that too?


If you own the card then please share the pictures of it, I’m interest to see it. Please respond to my post as I want answer for them. Thanks. PM me.

These crypto cards all right in the countries like USA where there are many places implanted with bitcoin ATM but not in the rest of the world. Plus there is no way you can spend the bitcoins almost instantly as you will have to wait until the transaction is confirmed over the blockchain. How are you dealing with that problem. I mean my Starbucks coffee will get cold until my payment is confirmed really!

However it has its own pros and cons so I don't think blaming it straight away is good thing. I hope there will be more development opportunities sooner as the bitcoin price is increasing Day by day and we have lots of money to spend.  :-)

This is what the founders of blockstream have to say about this service offered by Visa for the cryptocurrency community:

"BitPay is fraudulently passing off btc1 as Bitcoin software to which people are required to upgrade. This is highly unethical and a violation of the bitcoin.org hard fork policy. Therefore, this pull request removes from bitcoin.org any references to BitPay and their software/services Copay and Bitcore."

I don't think they are doing it intentionally for American people. There might be different reasons such as project funding limitation where they can fund the company to run within the USA only. Going outside the self country means lots of rules and regulations to be faced plus there is extra cost involved in it. So if they are not having the enough funding then they might be simply ignoring it.

Bitpay is good service and you can always have it to use online over thousand of shops. Plus there are alternatives too.

I really can't answer that... probably best to field it to their support team.


I like how you skip over the post that explains things and then make false assumptions because you didn't read it, :).

How does this service compare to Wirex?

I've been using them for a while now, and every day there just seems to be a new bug. The interface is good but every time i try to submit a transaction it seem to end in an error message, and is increasingly so. Looking for an alternative.

Do they have any sort of account for people who want to stay anonymous and is fine with lower limits?

Also you've mentioned about fees and maximums, what about the minimum transaction size?

I would not order a card from this company. They use over two weeks to reply to emails and the reply was a standard one that didn't help me. I tried to verify my documents at least 5 times already but they always fail even though all requirements are checked.

Debit card account funding is temporarily offline



why that?????? >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Thanks for the feedback. I was going to get a card, but some comments are making me think twice already. They still do have some good reviews, but I'd rather know the worst case scenario.

I'm glad you've left this review - thank you!

How long did it take for you to receive your card?

Here's a great video from Ben at the BTC Sessions on how to use a BitPay card. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2vN-oKXQrg&t=67s)


Wirex has better functionality, you can exchange your cryptocurrency for multiple fiat currencies. Wirex is more versatile. But Wirex isn't available in all countries.

great visa just shut down the Europe bitpay visa card

How does bitpay (or similar) cards make your life better?
Without it:
1) Send coins from YOUR local wallet to exchange
2) Exchange :P
3) Send USD to your usual card issued by some more or less trustworthy bank
You probably have to be verified on exchange now but you have to go through verification to get card too
There are multiple exchange option, you can try and find best for you
Miners, exchanges and bank profit from you

With card:
1) Send coins (probably much less options for altcoins here) to bitpay-like-service
2) They are automatically exchanged (I hope the process is at least faster than manual exchange :P) and you are ready to use them as USD
Seems like better option but:
-miners, exchanges (bitpay has to get USD to pay salaries, taxes and pay banks for their services, right?), banks AND bitpay profit from you
-you have to store your coins at bitpay's wallet. It is more dangerous because hackers will more likely target some huge bitpay's vault than your personal wallet on your PC. Also you don't know how many bitpay employees have access to your money.
-there are many big banks where you can get debit card but how many are willing to work with cryptocurrency services like bitpay? I think these are smaller and less stable banks. So problems with TXs, sudden denial of service or hard times finding your ATM.

So to me it seems like there so many risks and losses when dealing with bitpay-like services it is not worth it. Maybe I'm too careful here? Or trying to save mere cents? I'm not really rich XD Please tell me why do you use or want to use these cards?

I'm in the UK, a place where banks really do not like crypto, if I'd done the same amount of sells on Localbitcoins that I did to Bitpay to fund a card they'd probably have shut my account down because they thought I was doing it as a business.

Avoiding banks was my main reason for using one.

I totally get this reason. Does this work somehow like Gibraltar(where Wave Crest Holdings Ltd. is registered) is a part of UK but not really? ;) So it can issue cards and give you more freedom with it than your local banks? And BitPay makes it much easier to get card from them, right?

I'm not sure how Wavecrest were operating, but they certainly ain't no more. There must have been some type of Gibraltar specific kludge that they got up to.

I'm not confident there'll be another GBP card. Perhaps somewhere like the Isle of Man might but they'll be more dependent on UK banking. The Isle of Man is similarly not quite in the UK like Gibraltar.

There may be a workaround for you.

You could use an e-wallet like Neteller or Skrill that has a working prepaid MasterCard
attached to your e-wallet account. Unfortunately, funds that you deposit with Bitcoin into
your Neteller account (Neteller has a Bitcoin deposit option) can´t be used for ATM withdrawals and have to be used to pay at a merchant
or for a P2P payment to another user.

However, you could sell your Bitcoin (or the altcoin of your choice) to a reputable user, who sends
you funds on Neteller. Afterwards you can easily withdraw the funds using the Net+ Mastercard without any
restrictions.

Thanks for the idea but it sounds far too much like hard work and I've heard enough horror stories about Neteller to not want to go there.

I assume companies like Xapo will be working hard to find other options as that's one of their main selling points. I'll wait for them to sort something out. There are too many fly by night operations in this area.

Got my card, 2 days later got letter saying EU cards are invalid, today got refund
for BTC I paid to get card, but only half because I have to pay txn fee...I guess
I'm lucky I didn't have to pay more fee than I paid for card, and go into red, lol