It’s noteworthy to say that I live in UK and I get paid in bitcoin. I also do a lot of travelling so I thought I would do my own review since all the ones I see are out of date and bias.
#1 – Wirex [UPDATED] wirexapp.comThis is a 2-way bitcoin card (just annouced and tested), which means you can keep both bitcoins and fiat (USD, EUR, GBP) in your account, and switch between them as you wish. Plastic card for $ 17 and Virtual for $3. Has both Visa and MasterCard.
They offer unnamed cards, and no documents are required if you load it up to $2500. Verified users have no load limits. Both verified and unverified have no daily spend limits, regarding to number of purchases and their values.
Has below average fees, although not always the lowest. The v2.1 version update has exchange rate very close to market price. Impressive. 1% when converting BTC to fiat, $2,50 when using the ATM. They ship to 130+ countries, the highest number announced so far. No annuity.
They’re the only service with 24/7 support, and they’re very fast. It really counts when you are abroad and need help with some issue (see below my experience with Xapo).
The Wirex app is a big plus. I was a beta tester and it is pretty slick. Works like a charm for being in beta.
Wirex get the nod simply because they offer the most services, offer the best support and even if the service is not perfect I do not see anyone providing a better service at this time.
#2 Bit-X www.bit-x.comBit-X offers many services like E-Coin. They have the smallest fee, which is 0.5% BTC to fiat. They ship to the US, which is rare among the cards I’ve been researching. The plastic costs 0.13BTC and they don’t offer a virtual card.
They also accept you to top-up your card with LTC. Fiat is USD, EUR and GBP.
The account needs to be verified, and there are limits. Your account can’t have more than $15,000, and you’re limited to a daily €2600 use. Their ATM fees are the worse, ranging from $3.9 up to U$9 in some cases.
They have a low conversion fee and might be the best option for occasional use, although they charge inactivity fees.
#3 ANX www.anxbtc.comA great card too. Offered in both USD and HKD. They delivery to the US, but have some flaws as the price (0.15btc) and lacks a mobile app. They have no loading fees.
Their ATM service is not that good. $1000 daily limit and a 1% withdraw fee, if its greater than $3. Their help desk is very slow.
#4 – Criptopay www.cryptopay.me/bitcoin-debit-cardAnother card very like the above. Also has a 1% BTC to fiat fee. They don’t offer a virtual card, and the plastic costs €15. Only EUR and GBP.
They have balance limits, which is €20,000. Withdraw limit rages from €200 to €1000, and costs €2,75. Their costumer service isn’t bad, took 4h to solve my ticket (that’s below average, which was 13h). They charge a monthly fee of GBP 1.00
#5 – Xapo www.xapo.comXapo is known for being a wallet and vault with a useful mobile app. They offer a plastic Visa card, and it costs $20. Available in USD, EUR and GBP I got a free card some months ago, by having more than $30 on their wallet, but don’t know if this promotion is still going on.
They have a low fee of 1% for BTC conversion and $2.50 for ATM withdraw. They balance stays only in bitcoin, and is converted in the moment you use the card. They don’t have limits for verified users. There’s annuity fee and inactivity charge.
Why are they #5? Their website/app is not user-friendly. Their help desk sucks. Although they answered me in 1 hour, it took days to solve my problem. I was travelling through the US and relied on my Xapo debit card for everything. I had almost no cash at all. When I needed to use an ATM, my card got blocked. That’s why the pin they ask you to create when activating your card isn’t the one used for withdrawing cash at ATM’s. I should’ve called to their provider service to get an ATM PIN, but they haven’t told me that in the card activation instructions. Result: Had no cash and no debit card to use for the rest of my trip. Luckily I managed to find a p2p buyer at localbitcoins.
#6 AdvCash – www.advcash.comThey’re supposed to have a low 0.5% fee, but there’s a HIDDEN fee of 2% in all bitcoin deposits. That’s bad.
They offer both plastic and virtual cards, USD, EUR, GBP and RUB. The plastic costs only $4,99.
The fee for ATM use is $1,99, with daily use limit of $3000 and balance limit of $10.000. Helpdesk took 4 days to answer me.
#7 NetellerThey don’t allow you to spend or withdraw funds which came from bitcoin. Useful for betting houses only.
Please offer feedback and I will update and try to be as independent as I can.
Wagecan- needs review
Shift Payments- needs review
Spectrocoin- needs review
