Global Standard Bank gave me a free 1-BTC BitCard!

[mpfrank]

FYI... A while back, I requested a free 1-BTC BitCard that was being advertised by Global Standard Bank (http://www.globalstandardbank.com), one of these emerging Bitcoin Banks; apparently, they were giving them away as part of an introductory promotion.  I received my free card in the mail yesterday.  I haven't tried cashing it in yet, but here it is:



Some more information about how it works can be found on my latest Blog post, "Let's Get Physical" (http://minetopics.blogspot.com/2011/09/lets-get-physical.html).

Even more interesting than the BitCard itself, IMHO, is GSB's plan to offer a real Visa-logo credit/debit card ("iCard") which will presumably be backed by a demand deposit account at GSB that is denominated in Bitcoins.  I'm guessing they are planning to automatically convert the transaction amount from dollars (or whatever) to Bitcoins based on the exchange rate at the time the card is swiped, similarly to what happens when you swipe a dollar-denominated Visa card in the Eurozone (or vice-versa).  But I don't really know for sure.

Anyway, I was happy to receive my card and see that GSB's plans are still progressing.

Cheers, -Mike

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[fcmatt]

Nice art deco noveau design on the card. Looks like they had an artist on board and not all geeks!

[Ayo_4_Yayo]

Thats a nice gift!

[mpfrank]

Some more information about how it works can be found on my latest Blog post, "Let's Get Physical" (http://minetopics.blogspot.com/2011/09/lets-get-physical.html).

I'm guessing they are planning to automatically convert the transaction amount from dollars (or whatever) to Bitcoins based on the exchange rate at the time the card is swiped, similarly to what happens when you swipe a dollar-denominated Visa card in the Eurozone (or vice-versa).  But I don't really know for sure.

Very misleading.

Personally, I'm still trying to decide whether to cash in my BitCard now, and transfer the 1 BTC of value to my private, multiply backed-up encrypted wallet, or to just hold onto the card in case of emergency.  No hurry to decide, though...

Considering this idea will probably crash and burn, I'd act fast.

It's only $5 worth of Bitcoin, so I'm not too worried...

Why is it misleading to say that I don't know how one of their future products (the iCard) works?  In my post, I did provide more information about how the BitCard itself works (as promised).

[322i0n]

did you notice on the gsb website the exchange rate is $10.98 buy and $11.58 sell. :-/

[mpfrank]

did you notice on the gsb website the exchange rate is $10.98 buy and $11.58 sell. :-/

LOL, I'm guessing they're not actively buying right now!