XAPO Bitcoin Debit Card Review

xapo card

August 30, 2019

FrederikNielsen
0

XAPO Review

This claims to the pioneer Bitcoin debit card in the market today. But it isn’t true. It was Bitwala who first offered the debit card service for the general public. However, XAPO was the first to link their card with Bitcoin. It is no secret that being the innovator has its pros and cons. The benefit, of course, is that you set a new benchmark for others to follow on your own terms. But the flip side is that you are also the one to make and bear the mistakes. There always comes someone with a better and smarter version of your thing.

XAPO also made many blunders, the biggest being unbranded cards sent to customers. But it swiftly recovered from this slip up and are still one of the leading companies in the marketplace.

This article takes a brief look at some of its XAPO debit card specifics.

xapo card

Advantages

  1. Customers don’t have to bear any maintenance fee during its first year of use.
  2. XAPO focuses on security. It offers many layers of activates for its users.
  3. There is no top-up fee associated. This is what gives them a competitive advantage as no other company offers that.

Disadvantages

  1. It is out of service currently. The company ended ties with Visa.
  2. It will be launched again in 2019, but, it isn’t available for now.
  3. Before closing its operations, XAPO didn’t service US clients, making it impractical.
  4. The waiting time is almost a month. If you wish to receive it sooner, there is a relatively expensive shipping fee.
  5. New rules of XAPO require stringent verification which wasn’t the case before. Previously, it offered anonymity to anyone who asked for it.

XAPO Bitcoin Debit Card Charges

  • You need to pay $20 in order to issue the XAPO Bitcoin debit card.
  • $1 is charged monthly as a maintenance fee, though, new users don’t have to pay any dollars as maintenance fee in the first year.
  • If you wish to change its PIN, you will have to pay an additional $1.
  • If you lose the card, you will have to pay $12 for a replacement.
  • The XAPO Bitcoin debit card can be requested via express or free delivery.
  • Express delivery costs $55.
  • If you opt for free delivery, the card takes approximately 25 days to arrive without a parcel tracking option
  • You have to pay $2.5 domestically and $3.5 internationally when withdrawing money from an ATM using the XAPO Bitcoin debit card.
  • There is a 3% conversion rare when converting currencies
  • There aren’t any POS changes when dealing in native currency.
  • Using the card abroad costs an additional 3%.

Summary

  • Virtual card: Yes
  • Physical Card: Yes
  • Card type: Visa
  • Mobile app: Yes
  • Supported cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH)
  • Supported fiat currencies: EUR, GBP, and USD
  • Anonymous: No

xapo card

Final Word

XAPO is a well-renowned brand with a solid upbringing in the cryptocurrency marketplace. They were once the market penetrators, made a few blunders, but have learned from them over time. It is unfortunate that some XAPO Bitcoin debit card issuers didn’t settle well with Visa, resulting in their card becoming unavailable. Hopefully, once all this is done and dusted, XAPO Bitcoin debit card will once again reign the cryptocurrency space like before.

Frederik Nielsen
Frederik Nielsen

I’m a freelance writer and full-time curious person. My main interests are philosophy, politics, art, culture, science, and how they’re all interlinked. When I’m not writing, I’m fronting a band, producing records, and making videos. I’m also currently working on launching a YouTube channel that will focus on culture and politics. I think blockchain technology is fascinating because of the huge potential it has to revolutionise not only the financial sector, but society as a whole.

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