This has very little to do with Crypto.
Visa said the cards had been suspended after Visa terminated WaveCrest's membership due to "continued non-compliance with our operating rules", although it said other Visa cards that convert Bitcoin into normal currency would not be affected.
i'm surprised that virtually all the providers of non-US cards (bitpay, bitwala, cryptopay, wirex, tenX) were using wavecrest to issue them. i guess this is another example where market concentration and lack of competition hurts consumers.
I've been looking for one with low fees and haven't been able to find it yet. The only reason for me to use their services would be to try to avoid the traditional banking. In traditional banking when your deals go sideways and you get into debt or get an unfavorable court ruling your accounts get blocked almost instantly.
i don't see how using a prepaid card (funded by BTC or not) fundamentally changes anything. in order to issue the card to you, this is the kind of information required:
For Non-US Residents
If you are ordering the BitPay Card outside of the United States, we will require the following information in your BitPay Card order process:
First Name
Last Name
Date of Birth
Phone Number
Delivery Address
City
Postal Code
Email Address
Proof of Address (Utility Bill, Bank Statement, Lease Dated within 90 Days)
Proof of Identity (Driver's License, Passport, Govt. ID)
this business definitely requires money transmission licenses and KYC procedures. any business issuing cards without enforcing them is likely to get shut down or removed from major payment networks like wavecrest was. this information is more than enough to get your prepaid accounts locked down if the courts come knocking on the issuer's door.
