Cryptocurrencies are over a decade old. However, spending BTC, ETH, LTC, or any crypto units to buy your favourite products isn’t smooth sailing. You have to either shed more bucks if you rely on third-party crypto-to-fiat service providers or sell some of your cryptocurrencies for fiat money.
Is there an easy way to use cryptocurrencies to buy various goods?
Most certainly!
Read along as we will discuss how crypto debit cards are making cryptocurrency payments a breeze. This explainer post covers all – What are crypto debit cards? How crypto debit cards work? What is the Binance debit card?
Let’s get started.
What are Crypto Debit Cards?
Crypto debit cards are physical or virtual cards that allow you to pay using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and other altcoins. You can also withdraw fiat cash from ATMs using crypto debit cards.
Just like conventional debit cards make fiat transactions easy, crypto debit cards make crypto payments a breeze. Plus, crypto debit cards from platforms like Coinbase and Binance are accepted by millions of retailers as they have partnered with the payment behemoth VISA.
Yes, you heard that right swipe your crypto debit card and that’s it; you don’t need to convert your crypto assets into fiat before spending them. Instead, these debit cards have an automated exchange system running in the background that automatically pays the retailer in fiat money. Also, similar to traditional debit cards, you need to go through KYC checks to get your crypto debit card.
Well, there are added benefits of using a crypto debit card –
- No Maintenance Fees – Unlike traditional debit cards, most crypto debit cards currently do not charge annual maintenance fees or any subscription fees.
- Save on Foreign Exchange Fees – Swiping your debit card at an offshore location is heavier on your pockets as you have to pay exorbitant exchange rates. Thanks to crypto technology, you will save dollars on exchange fees if you use crypto debit cards.
- Lower Transaction Fees – Crypto debit cards charge much lower transaction fees than conventional debit card providers.
- Exciting Cashbacks – As crypto debit cards are still in their infancy, crypto debit card companies offer lucrative rewards and cashback to their users to encourage more and more people to use crypto debit cards. Rewards range from airport lounge access and cashback on transactions.
How do Crypto Debit Cards Work?
Using crypto debit cards is a no-nonsense, simple process –
- Top up your crypto wallet with a cryptocurrency of your choice.
- Connect your crypto debit card to your crypto wallet.
That’s it; you are now ready to use your crypto units for buying what you want. Nevertheless, crypto debit cards have spending limits and thus, they are not suitable for large transactions.
Binance Debit Card
Launched in July 2020, the Binance debit card is a Visa crypto debit card that allows you to spend and transact using Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), Swipe Coin (SXP), and Binance USD (BUSD) at 60 million locations across the globe.
Here are the daily spending limits for your Binance card –
- Virtual Card – EUR 870
- Physical Card – EUR 8,000
The Binance debit card is tied to your Binance account and thus, you can seamlessly spend your crypto assets from your account. Binance has also acquired Swipe, Card-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform, to provide a frictionless user experience. Additionally, you can virtually link your Binance Card with Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
Talking about availability, you can choose to use a virtual or physical Binance debit card. The virtual card is made available to you upon approval of your application, while the physical card will take a few months to reach you. The Binance debit card is currently available in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK; you can check the list of eligible countries here.
Moreover, Binance does not charge maintenance fees or subscription fees. Plus, transactions in Euros are subject to 0 transaction charges. Additionally, every purchase with Binance Card will give you up to 8% cashback in BNB coins depending on the BNB balance in your account.
The Bottom Line
Visa’s announcement in July 2020 stated that they are diving into the crypto waters by allowing users to spend cryptocurrencies using debit and credit cards. Major crypto platforms like Coinbase, Fold, Binance, to name a few, have partnered with Visa to provide users the ability to directly spend using crypto units without needing to convert crypto into fiat.
Also, with Mastercard and Paypal entering the crypto world, it is clear that cryptocurrency is going mainstream.
To sum up, cryptocurrencies are slowly becoming a viable medium of exchange with advancements like crypto debit cards.
