Bitwala - Blockchain Banking

[bitwala]

Great coverage by Blockonomi mapping the major digital banks with crypto options: https://blockonomi.com/digital-app-banks/

[skabaw]

The following is my story of a very short experience with Bitwala, and - as you may guess - I do not recommend using their service.

It all started on Jul 15, 2019. I've passed the standard procedure, email verification, AML/KYC, ID, etc.
Then I deposited 0.02 BTC (this is the only crypto I have ever credited my account with). I have also wired some fiat, possibly 500 EUR.

Then, on Jul 18th, I've got the following request (excerpt):

"(..) In order to secure our banking relationship we simply ask that you complete the following questions below. (...)
Please state the amount of your crypto assets and provide us with suitable proof of their origin (trading history, screenshots of trading platforms, etc.). (...)"

I answered:

"(...) Answering that question is simply not possible. I've purchased my crypto assets in 2013. The platform I've used does not exist today, and I do not have any screenshots. (...)".

In reply, I've got the following (now full text):

"We regret to inform you that we can no longer continue our banking journey, following a review of your account with us. We have recently undertaken a review of your banking journey and reached this conclusion in line with Section 19 paragraph 1 of our partners solarisBank's General Terms and Conditions (GTC) and will no longer provide these facilities. You will, therefore, need to make alternative banking arrangements. All of your other banking arrangements, including your account and cryptocurrency wallet, will be canceled and closed with immediate effect. Any credit balances held on the account will be returned to you. Please let us know by sending a signed payment request to support@bitwala.com, which account you would prefer to - if permitted - transfer the remaining credit to. This is only relevant if you don’t have access to your account anymore. We assure you that we have only reached this decision after very careful consideration, therefore this decision should be treated as final. Therefore we will not be prepared to enter into any further discussion in relation to it."

What they said they did. Eventually, after filing a number of other scans with my signatures, my money was refunded after 2 more weeks.

Can you now imagine: "no further discussion"? Not even an attempt to understand that 0.02 BTC was worth less than 200 EUR in 2013, and nobody at that time talked about screen shots, and many exchanges went bankrupt, including the famous MtGox. In my case it was Bitcurex (I did not mention that name in their communication).

Bitwala didn't make any other statements on the causes of closing my account. I would be happy if someone from Bitwala could explain publicly in this forum the "mysterious" reason of their action and tell everybody what criminal, trafficker or terrorist I am? I wonder if anybody had this type of experience with Bitwala (did not read the 24 pages of the stuff in this topic yet).

[bitwala]

Dear fellow-bitcoiner,

we truly understand your issue and thank you for taking the time to state it here.

We’re very sorry to hear about your situation and your experience with Bitwala. Your feedback is important to us. We, at Bitwala, aim to ensure that all user transactions are processed as smoothly as possible which is why we perform routine checks to keep our user accounts safe and secure.

In order to protect our customers, no individual information about why an account is closed can be shared online. In order to protect your personal data, we don’t post details on a forum like bitcointalk.

Rest assured, Bitwala will only close an account relationship after careful consideration.

Your Bitwala Team

[bitwala]

Bitwala is proud to be covered by CryptoMonday (DE). Check their detailed review here:

https://cryptomonday.de/bitwala-test-2019-erstes-deutsches-bankkonto-mit-integrierter-bitcoin-wallet/

[bitwala]

In case you missed it, there is a great coverage of the Bitwala app by Bitcoin Magazine following our latest announcement. Catch their article here:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitwala-launches-mobile-app-for-bitcoin-banking

[bitwala]

This week's Market Watch by Bitwala's trading team is live - check the latest update on the rising bitcoin dominance and the increased hash rate here:

https://www.bitwala.com/market-watch/

[bitwala]

Bitwala - ever wondered what it actually means? Read about it in our latest blog:

https://www.bitwala.com/bitwala-whats-with-the-name/

[bitwala]

"We are offering a bridge for both mainstream users and blockchain buffs, who want to interact with the Web 3.0". For more info check the latest interview with Ben Jones (Co-founder, CTO and CEO):

https://www.cryptonewsz.com/ben-jones-cto-and-co-founder-of-bitwala-speaks-exclusively-to-cryptonewsz/42238/

[bitwala]

Key Takeaways of this week's Market Watch by Bitwala's trading team: Bullish and bearish scenarios on a bigger timeframe, repeating history, the growth of SegWit transactions and more. Find it here:

https://www.bitwala.com/market-watch/

[LeGaulois]

@Bitwala

I have 2 questions:

- About SEPA
Instant SEPA transfers are being slowly implemented in Europe. Do you know if this is something the Bitwala users will be able to access in the future? (Since there is SolarisBank in the middle...) It would be great for users

- the new European directive
And will Bitwala be affected by the PSD2 directive?
Basically the 3D Secure from Mastercard is already SCA compliant but the login will require a stronger customer authentification too?

[bitwala]

- About SEPA
Instant SEPA transfers are being slowly implemented in Europe. Do you know if this is something the Bitwala users will be able to access in the future? (Since there is SolarisBank in the middle...) It would be great for users

- the new European directive
And will Bitwala be affected by the PSD2 directive?
Basically the 3D Secure from Mastercard is already SCA compliant but the login will require a stronger customer authentification too?

Hi Buddy, thanks for reaching out. Happy to answer your questions.

Instant SEPA transfers are a great feature and something we would love to integrate. However, our current focus is rather on the crypto side of the product.

In regards to PSD2, you currently need an mTAN to log into your Bitwala account. The mTAN is sent to your mobile phone. For further security, you're free to activate a 2FA like the Google Authenticator.

Best, Raphael @Bitwala

[bitwala]

This week's Market Watch by Bitwala's trading team is live - check the latest update on the altcoin season, ETH, XLM, and more:

https://www.bitwala.com/market-watch/

[mosprognoz]

"(..) In order to secure our banking relationship we simply ask that you complete the following questions below. (...)
Please state the amount of your crypto assets and provide us with suitable proof of their origin (trading history, screenshots of trading platforms, etc.). (...)"

In USSR they used to do the same. Where is your money coming from? First off all, bitwala could do they research by checking the address that you used for depositing via blockchain.  Asking for complete history of your crypto transactions is ridiculous.

Please state the amount of your crypto assets and provide us with suitable proof of their origin (trading history, screenshots of trading platforms, etc.). (...)"

Nobody will share that info. Bitcoin was made especially to avoid financial control from banks. Who is using bitwala and why? Coinbase and Bitpay have much lower rates, more services and their cards are available almost for everyone. Here is a short review of Bitwala STO.

https://coinrevolution.com/bitwala-launches-sto/

[questioncookie]

Just had my account closed by Bitwala. I got the following canned reply from them:

We have recently undertaken a review of your banking journey and reached this conclusion in line with Section 19 paragraph 1 of our partners solarisBank's General Terms and Conditions (GTC) and will no longer provide these facilities. You will, therefore, need to make alternative banking arrangements.

Followed by:

We assure you that we have only reached this decision after very careful consideration, therefore this decision should be treated as final. Therefore we will not be prepared to enter into any further discussion in relation to it.
*************************************************************************

Bitwala, you're no different than a regular bank. In fact, you are far worse. Why proclaim yourself a "Bitcoin bank" when you close people's accounts for nothing? What is the reason for closing my account?

This service is actually a JOKE.

To give you some context on my use of their service, I was just doing SEPA transfers from a well known crypto exchange to Bitwala and then to my bank accounts.

SEPA transfers are free btw, so maybe because they weren't able to get any money from me, they decided to close my account. Or maybe, it was because of my high volume, who knows. Maybe both.

One thing's for sure though: I'm glad I didn’t have any money in my account. I read other reddit posts about Bitwala's SolarisBank seizing money and thought that those users MUST have done something really bad to have their accounts closed like that. But as I came to understand, Bitwala is just a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Bitwala is a regular bank, not a Bitcoin bank. Keep your money and especially your BITCOIN off of their platform. I'm thoroughly disgusted about this experience. I thought their service would be really good and I'd end up using it for a long time, but guess it wasn't in the cards. All in all, this is too bad.

It's a falsely advertised crypto friendly service. In my humble opinion, it's just BS.

[bitwala]

Hey mosprognoz, we see your point and appreciate your comment. There is no need to share information on all of one’s crypto funds. In such a case, it concerns the amount deposited in the Bitwala wallet only.

Don’t worry we’re not that data greedy. In terms of our users and comparison to the services you mentioned, it’s pretty simple: Bitwala actually offers a bank account (incl. the card). There is no such solution out there. Give it a try your self, it won’t hurt

[bitwala]

Just had my account closed by Bitwala.

We're sorry to hear about your issue as your experience is very important to us. Bitwala offers a bank account enhanced by a feature to quickly buy and sell BTC from inside the account.

Why proclaim yourself a "Bitcoin bank" when you close people's accounts for nothing? What is the reason for closing my account?

Yes, the bank account is real. Therefore, strict banking standards are a given condition to open and use a fully functioning bank account. Rest assured, we never close our accounts for no reason. Every single user has and will always be valuable to us. Our service is unique and there is no such solution out there that can handle the same speed from crypto to fiat or vice versa.


However, this is about solving your issue. It might work withdrawing directly to your bank account.

In order to support you, help us understand whether you’ve transferred Bitcoin to your Bitwala wallet or if it’s the mentioned SEPA transaction. Feel free to share more here or reach out to our support specialists (support@bitwala.com) directly. They are happy to help and will prioritise this issue.

[bitwala]

This week's Market Watch by Bitwala's trading team is live - check the latest update on the BTC/USD daily chart, Bakkt, and EOS hard fork:

https://www.bitwala.com/market-watch/

[questioncookie]

Hello, the fact is I don't need your BTC to fiat services. I just needed your SEPA transfer option and that's about it. And yes, I just used your service for SEPA transfers.

You say that you don't close accounts for no good reason, but support has yet to provide me with a valid reason, other than their Terms of Service.

Thanks though for being willing to talk this over, but what I also got in the E-mail Bitwala sent me is this:

"We assure you that we have only reached this decision after very careful consideration, therefore this decision should be treated as final. Therefore we will not be prepared to enter into any further discussion in relation to it."

So I guess there's nothing more to talk about. Even if you would still reinstate my account, I would not dare to send my funds there again. I don't trust companies that close your account for a so called good, yet unspecified reason.

I just want this to be a real warning to some of the folks out there that want to use your services. Heard some guy on Reddit had his money locked by Bitwala and it was later on confiscated by the authorities in Germany. Wouldn't want to be on that side of the fence to be honest.

[bitwala]

This week's Market Watch by Bitwala's trading team is live - check the latest update on the bitcoin support level, ETH's performance, and more here:

https://www.bitwala.com/market-watch/

[bitwala]

Today's Market Watch by Bitwala's trading team is live - check the latest update on bitcoin being the best-performance asset in 2019 and its momentum shift here: https://www.bitwala.com/market-watch/

Check the German version published in corporation with BTC-Echo:https://www.btc-echo.de/bitcoin-kurs-und-marktbetrachtung-bloomberg-stimmt-bullish/