Bitcoin Forum

One question about bitpay: is it right that I can use bitpay as creditcard? So I could pay nearly everything in bitcoin directly from my bitypay wallet, did I understand that correctly?

The question should be in service discussion but anyhow

It's a debit card not a credit card!
You need to load the funds to your card from your bitpay wallet.

Seriously, not that hard to find the info:
https://bitpay.com/card

You got it perfectly, except that such cards aren't called 'credit cards' because they don't come in pre-loaded or you don't necessarily take a loan from them but rather a 'debit card' because you load your card every time you want to use it. I'm yet to find another legitimate debit card service that I can use for my bitcoin but I haven't found one out yet. Take the card while it's there and get the experience of spending your bitcoins (indirectly) on your favorite shops and stores.

I noticed that people often call any cards credit cards even when they actually mean debit cards. Anyway, it seems like a card costs only 10 dollars, and there one can convert Bitcoin into USD and use it anywhere where Visa is accepted. That sounds to good to be true, honestly. I feel like there should be a catch. Is it, say, only for online payments, and one actually cannot use it to pay in a random not bitcoin-friendly supermarket or cafe? Are there some high regular fees or terrible exchange rates? Is it working only for people living in the US, because it only converts the money into dollars and not into any kind of fiat? The website says it works in 240 countries, and that the fee is 1%.
Okay, I can see now that there are various kinds of fees, expecially for people outside US. But still, though, one can really just pay for goods in, say, Aldi, with this card, and perform virtually any online payments? Is there anything I am missing here?
Oh, and is the money fixed in fiat once you load it on the card or does one hold it in btc and a certain amount is converted into fiat when one is trying to pay? Basically, would a cardholder benefit/lose from bitcoin fluctuations, just like everyone else?

I see some utility in Bitcoin based debit cards, but the main point here is that you aren't spending Bitcoin, but still fiat with high fees. If you already own a non Bitcoin debit card and it works just fine, then use that one instead.

In this case you're using an intermediary service on top of another intermediary service. You ask permission from BitPay to execute payments, and BitPay asks permission from Visa or whatever other base financial institution.

If we do think thoroughly it is really just still the same the only difference is the convenience that it gives when using Bitpay yet you can load some funds using up Bitcoin just like on what we are doing
with our traditional debit cards.

VISA issues both debit and credit cards or is part of those networks and appears on the front, easily the two are confused.   The catch would not be the straight fees but in the percentages and the exchange rates, same as any Forex type transaction.   Many companies make a profit over taking 1% out of everything you spend so that'd be $100 if you spent 10k and 1% is a low fee I'd guess so check what they are shaving off or at least buy the same thing twice with the BTC route and conventionally I guess

What you will likely find is that manually selling BTC back to FIAT and then using the normal bank card would be cheaper.   Doesnt have to be true but quite probably.    I've also heard of a card similar to this with a gold link, in that case they sell the gold at month end to pay off the credit card bill I believe

It is not just for online payment you do even do an offline transaction with the card. You can even withdraw money from an ATM.


As far as I know, after you transfer a certain amount on bitpay you will have to convert it into cash so that you can use the debit card.

It's not a credit card. It's a debit card issued by Visa. There are clear differences. Also you will not pay fiat-money free using such cards. Because the debit card works as follows: You deposit Bitcoin or another crypto currency on Bitpay. The crypto currencies are then sold directly and the fiat money is credited to your card. You then go shopping with the fiat money. Thus it is only a conversion and no money-less payment as suggested.

No, there is none, other cards from banks or servces like bitpay are free, Wirex for example.


It'a a visa card. Wherever VISA is accepted this one should also work.



It works only fro the US as only US residents can apply for one , but you can pay with it while traveliling abroad.
https://support.bitpay.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002990663-What-fees-will-I-pay-to-use-the-BitPay-Card-


No, it doesn't work like that.
You load the coins into your bitpay wallet and from there you transfer fiat (according to the exchange rate) to your card.

Thanks for a detailed response, stompix! I am not from the US, so I guess this card is irrelevant for me then. It's cool that people can use it just like any other Visa card. The only important thing I still don't get is when is the money converted into dollars. Say, I transfer 0.1 BTC to bitpay debit card. It is around $400 according to the current course. Do I from this point basically have $400, or is it 0.1 btc? If the price rises 2x in, say, a month, and I did not spend my money yet, if we neglect the fees, do I have $400 or $800 now?
From the answers I guess I'll have $400, but then the card is not really a Bitcoin card, but simply a USD card with a sophisticated and legitimate way of turning Bitcoin into fiat...

Yes, you're right.
You don't transfer BTC from your wallet, you select a sum in $ and then you are prompted how much BTC that is and it gets deducted from your wallet, is an exchange.

There is no card with real BTC on it, and Visa won't probably be too happy about anyone trying to do so.

 such cards aren't called 'credit cards', it's a 'debit card' because you load your card every time you want to use

Ain't know why people are considering all types of cards as credit cards and disregarding the meaning of a debit card. If the thing you are trying to mean is if the bitpay will be able to be used as a card which you can use for every transaction using your cryptocurrency/bitcoin then yes. But it doesn't mean that you can use it as a credit card but you can use it for buying your stuff and will serve as a debit card.

As a non American there's no point in discussing this card. It also looks like it may die soon for Americans too.

When it was available to Europeans you converted all of your BTC the moment you sent coins to it. It stayed in GBP or EUR and couldn't be converted back. The Xapo card worked differently. That balance stayed in BTC and only live converted the relevant amount to GBP when you spent it.

Either way debit cards are probably doomed. And if you do end up with one that's still alive at present under no circumstances leave any money on it or depend on it as your sole source of spending.

Interesting, with this card can we pay without turn bitcoin to fiat money? I have to check, i hope is available for me and not cost too much the card.

It does not cost you that much, as I remember you need to pay $9,95 to order the card. Make sure that you can use it on your area before ordering it.

Bitpay card can not be referred to as a credit card but a debit card and you have to load it before you can use it, and back to your question if bitpay card can be use to pay for everything in the market the answer is no because you can only use bitpay debit card only on shops that allow that service but I mist say that there are large number of shops where you can use your bitpay debit card to settle your bills.

BitPay Card isn't really a credit card, it's only a prepaid debit card that you can load your BTC in. The catch is you really don't pay anything with the BTC you load in the prepaid card as the BTC you are loading it to is just converted to U.S. dollars so basically it just like cashing out your BTC from an exchange to a bank you have a debit card in. Even if there is a Bitpay Credit card not unless you are repaying your debt with BTC you aren't actually using your BTC to buy anything so I cannot really call it as a credit card.

Its a card that is issued by Visa meaning you can use it anywhere they are accepting debit cards for payments. As long as you dont live in some village from Africa or similar to that you should be able to use it for your daily needs.

I think we have an option to use bitpay to pay everything in bitcoin and we don't have to use the card, especially for debit or credit card because we don't how safe we are making the transaction through online. It's better to pay directly using bitcoin from our wallet than to use from the card. I already help my friend who wants to pay using bitcoin from his online store, and I don't have to use the card because I can see how much I should pay in bitcoin.

As of now only around fifty countries in the world has the access to bitpay. The bitpay service is the best in its type, and it has been supporting from small scale to large scale transactions. Initially the wallet is supposed to be filled and can be used with the physical bitpay card. They also take a 1% fee, so I don't find the difference between the common credit/debit cards.

i would suggest to hold the btcs and other crypto currency in wallet rather than using for daily purchases for daily purchases we can use fiat currency

It isn't that great. It works with QR codes and certain wallets, but it's pretty much impossible to use direct addresses with it, which means it's imposible to send money from an exchange directly to a client using bitpay. I'm pretty sure this has been the reason their adoption has not been great. But perhaps they encountered logistical difficulties using plain addresses from one wallet to another.

I think is a debit card as most of the cards, i wish bitpay card to be available also for Europe, but this is it, maybe another service will open such service over time. And yes you can pay with bitpay card every where after you send bitcoins on your bitpay wallet without the need to convert bitcoin to cash.

There was a Bitpay card in Europe. It died. I've never heard anything from them since about replacing it so it looks like it's an idea they're no longer interested in. Same goes for Xapon.

Wirex is available right now for Europeans. Coinbase is launching a GBP card next week and they're moving into EUR after that but they haven't named a time for that yet.

While its true VISA/MC have both credit and debit cards, it is also true you can use a credit card almost like a debit card.

Imagine you are issued a credit card with a (ridiculously low) 10$ limit, and you want to purchase something that costs 200$ What do you do? You pay it in advance, that is, pay your currently 0 debt credit card 200$, and then you can use it to buy the 200$ item.

A debit card is a bit different, since is tied to your bank account, it lets you spend whatever you have in there. It may have a transaction limit depending on bank and country being used.

Not sure what type Bitpay uses, but now you are paying: Bitcoin tx fee, Bitpay fee, visa/mc fee.

yes it will be the easiest process for Bitcoin uses without any exchanges this type of payment method will always been very helpful for everyone to make the payment without the normal currencies and implementation will be definitely possible very soon and I expect it in the end of this year.

Bitpay is not a credit card because it not preloaded but a debit card that need to be founded by the owner and users, I have not used bitpay card before but if it give instant deposits from the card and send to the retailer immediately then it a welcome development and will love to own one very soon.