[2015-10-27] Bitfinexdeal delivers Bitcoin debit card with no exchange requireme

[Proxiebuier]

Bitfinex and Blade Payments deal delivers Bitcoin debit card with no exchange requirement
Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex (iFinex, Inc.) has announced a new partnership with Blade Payments (Blade Data Ltd.) to provide real-time debit cards to Bitfinex customers.

The cards will support payments through Bitcoin by allowing the use of the card without preloading a fiat currency and can be used at any time in what the company describes as a “frictionless” experience.

The new card offering compares to the majority of existing debit cards offered by Bitcoin exchanges that require the user to first sell their Bitcoin into fiat currencies before being able to make a withdrawal; by comparison the new card allows users to hold Bitcoin only and only convert the amount at the point of sale needed to fund a purchase.

It’s not entirely clear which international ATM network the new card will work with, but the company says that customers will be able to use the Blade cards for purchases with online merchants, brick and mortar stores, as well as to withdraw cash at millions of ATMs around the world.

“We are very happy to be providing our users with access to their bitcoin at any time via Blade’s industry-leading debit cards,” Bitfinex Director of Community & Product Development Zane Tackett said in a statement sent to SiliconANGLE. “We see the ability to withdraw directly from one’s Bitfinex account using traditional ATMs around the world as a major benefit for our users.”

readmore : http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/10/27/bitfinex-and-blade-payments-deal-delivers-bitcoin-debit-card-with-no-exchange-requirement/

[RustyNomad]

All fine and well but, as they say, the devil is in the details and with the details I mean the cost associated with the card.

I'm all for bitcoin linked debit cards as it makes spending bitcoins so much easier especially so when in an area where bitcoin is not readily accepted. The fees on these cards are however the thing to be looked at very carefully as some of these cards work out to be very expensive in the long run.

In most cases it will work out quite a bit cheaper just to cash out my bitcoin and move the fiat to my normal fiat debit card and spend my money that way.