https://themerkle.com/visa-and-mastercard-now-charge-an-additional-fee-for-buying-cryptocurrency/There are many reasons why so many people use the Coinbase exchange. One of the main factors is that the company supports both credit and debit cards to buy Bitcoin and other supported currencies. Unfortunately, it seems there are some issues with these payment methods. A lot of customers have complained about extra charges when using a payment card on Coinbase. It seems such transactions are now considered “cash advances”, which is not a positive development.
Over the past few weeks, we have seen both Visa and Mastercard crack down on cryptocurrency-related activity. The suspension of debit cards issued by Wavecrest has sent shockwaves throughout the cryptocurrency community. According to Visa, the company has zero intention to facilitate or process cryptocurrency-related transactions. It seems that statement also applies to regular branded payment cards used on specific Bitcoin platforms.
More specifically, there are a lot of customers complaining about extra fees when buying cryptocurrencies on Coinbase. This mainly affects Bitcoin purchases, but it is certainly possible that purchasing altcoins could yield similar results. For some reason, using this exchange may now cost an additional 3% of the purchase price, even though Coinbase itself is not charging this fee. Instead, it seems both Visa and Mastercard have changed the “status” of Coinbase – and potentially other cryptocurrency exchanges – in their system.
According to one comment, it is possible that Coinbase is now considered to be a “cash advance” service. This means the Merchant Category Code of this company has been altered, which is pretty much on par with using a payment card for gambling. There is an additional surcharge of up to 3% for every single transaction, which will be charged to customers directly. It seems this issue has been present for at least 36 hours now, although the exchange has not issued any official comments regarding these complaints.
The moral of the story is don't use credit or debit cards to buy Bitcoin. Send a wire or direct deposit to an exchange like Gemini or Bitstamp. Your trading fees will less too.
