Bitcoin Forum

Why this is not at the Bit-X blog: https://bit-x.com/blog ?

glad to see Bit-X officially announces their Mastercard :)

Im really happy to see that Official launch of Master Card. And also they Now ship that card to Pakistan, I surely go for it. I think your Fees at ATM withdrawal is some what lit but higher, .02 BTC. Can you please mind to lower that fees?

It'll be posted shortly.

Hmm... the fee for ATM withdrawal is a bit on the higher side. BTC0.02 is equivalent to $5. If I am withdrawing $200 through the ATM, then I'll be paying 5.5% as the fees ($5 plus 3% Mastercard commission). But it is still better than using the Localbitcoins to convert BTC to fiat, as the vendors there normally charge as much as 10% for the currency exchange.

This advantage is destroyed by inactive monthly fee of 0.05BTC. You need to us a minimum of 5 times a month or a have a balance of 5BTC(IIRC) in BIT-X. :-X

I believe that the limit of five times a month is too high. It should be lowered to once a month, or once every two months. Else the inactive fee would cost us BTC0.60 every year, which is equivalent to $144. For me this is a very big amount and it lowers the attraction of using the debit card. I have received my debit card by the way... have to activate it now.

I posted in their official thread many times but they tend to ignore it. I don't think I would use it until the fee isn't lowered.

Used the BIT-X Bitcoin Debit MasterCard to withdraw $160 from the local ATM. These are the charges:

Fiat from ATM: BTC0.701
BIT-X COMMISSION: BTC0.01
Master Card Commission: BTC0.02103
Total: BTC0.73203

Overall, quite satisfied with the services. Will definitely use again.  ;D

Isn't BIT-X ATM commission 0.02BTC? Did they lower ATM withdrawal fee?

BTW, don't forget monthly inactive fee.

Not sure about that. This is the transaction summary which is coming in my profile page. Yeah.... the monthly inactive fee (0.6 Bitcoin per year) is a big headache. But I am going to use this card for at least a few months. Can't trust Localbitcoins after all the recent scandals. I need a second option to convert my coins to fiat.

That's weird. Let me ask Marco about that.

Have you tried AdvCash or e-coin.io?

That's around 4%, which I am pleased with :).

Can you please comment on the BIT-X ATM withdrawal commission.

Your questions have been addressed in the official thread.

Regards,
Bit-X.com

Sorry for not updating.

Quoting answer here.

What does the card look like?

I would be surprised if it has anything bitcoin related on it. Then again I haven't seen it.

Any geographic limitation on country or residency of the customer? It's a UK company afaik.

eidt: never mind, I see it can be shipped anywhere in the world. Great.

This is quite good news :) Cool to see this launching officially. It's a very handy product :)

Why are all these cards MasterCard and not VISA?

We all know that if you get a decent amount of customers signed up to this, MasterCard will tell your issuer to pull the plug a la Neteller.

Not trying to be a pessimist, but it has happened time and time again.

Maybe VISA does not want anything to do with bitcoin. Then again Mastercard openly said they hate bitcoin and doomed it to fail... Which is very strange.

lol... Right now, as Visa is enjoying their no.1 position, they don't want to tarnish their reputation by associating with risky businesses such as Bitcoin. Mastercard, on the other hand is trying to seize market share from Visa, and is more open to risky business. Although the Master bosses might hate Bitcoin, they will temporarily set that aside to get new business.

Where have they said this? I doubt they explicitly said that, but those credit card companies wont care where their fees are coming from as long as they're getting them and its not from illegal activity. The irony is though that these cards will be used to easily launder or transfer money. What better way to send you bitcoin balance directly to a card which then can be withdrawn at any cash machine or used to purchase any goods you want. Wouldn't surprise me if they bar working with bitcoin companies at one point, though.