Pyypl, a fintech company operating in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), has partnered with Visa to introduce virtual and physical prepaid Visa cards via its mobile app. This strategic collaboration aims to enhance financial inclusion across the region, providing underserved populations with greater access to financial services. The integration of Visa virtual cards will […]
Bitcoin News
Bitpay Ceases Prepaid Mastercard Program, Promises Enhanced Card Service in the Future
Cryptocurrency proponents in the United States are facing increasing challenges when it comes to utilizing digital assets for expenditures. Several crypto companies have encountered difficulties in securing banking partners. This week, Bitpay, a prominent player in the crypto payments sector, made an announcement regarding the termination of its current Bitpay prepaid Mastercard program. This decision follows the end of its partnership with Metropolitan Commercial Bank.
Crypto Payment Giant Bitpay Ends Prepaid Mastercard Program
Bitpay, the Atlanta-based crypto payments company, has made the decision to halt its prepaid Mastercard program, rendering the card unusable for Bitpay Mastercard holders after the specified deadline. Breaking the news through a series of informative tweets on May 18, 2023, Bitpay also notified cardholders via email. Urging users to promptly terminate any recurring payments linked to the prepaid card, the company has set June 1, 2023, as the final day for card loading.
We’ve seen some hot takes since announcing our short transition period for the BitPay Card and want to make one thing clear: we’re not going away, just taking some time to change banks and enhance the card program.
More details in the thread
pic.twitter.com/HeuGZIlst1
— BitPay (@BitPay) May 18, 2023
Bitpay has announced that the card’s final day of usability is scheduled for June 15, 2023, after which it will cease to function. On January 9, 2023, the crypto sector received news regarding Metropolitan Bank’s decision to discontinue its involvement in crypto-asset-related endeavors. At the time, Metropolitan revealed that it serviced “four active institutional crypto-asset related clients,” collectively contributing approximately 1.5% of total revenues and 6% of total deposits.
When Bitpay took to Twitter to share the update, it assured its users that a revamped card service will make a comeback later this year. Although the current situation may be seen as a temporary setback, the company expressed its commitment to relaunching the Bitpay Card with enhancements through a new banking partner. While June 15 marks the final day to utilize the card for transactions, any remaining balances will be refunded. Within 30 days, users can expect to receive a reimbursement in the form of a paper check mailed to the address associated with their Bitpay Card.
“We will share additional details regarding the new card program, including new features, shortly,” the company’s email message detailed. “These changes will require a short transition period in which your current card will become inactive. As a cardholder, you will automatically be enrolled on the waitlist for the new program,” the crypto payments company’s card update concluded.
What are your thoughts on the challenges faced by cryptocurrency companies in accessing banking services? What do you think about Bitpay shutting down its current prepaid Mastercard program? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Binance Launches Prepaid Card in Colombia
Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange, has launched a prepaid cryptocurrency card in Colombia, expanding its reach in Latam. The card, which will allow customers with their identity verified to make payments with crypto, establishes the country as one of the leading markets for the exchange in Latam behind Brazil and Argentina.
Binance Announces Crypto Prepaid Card in Partnership With Movii
Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in volumes traded, is making moves to expand its services in Colombia. The company announced the launch of a new prepaid cryptocurrency-linked card, that will allow users to pay with crypto in all merchants accepting standard debit and credit cards.
The product is part of a partnership with Movii, a Colombian neobank that also issues its own Mastercard card. Among the currencies supported by the card will be BNB, BTC, ETH, ADA, DOT, SOL, SHIB, XRP, MATIC, LINK, and other stablecoins, with the user being able to configure which currency will be spent.
The card will feature real-time exchange from crypto to fiat currency, allowing users to spend crypto, and merchants to receive fiat instantly. Binance also announced that the prepaid card will feature zero-fee withdrawals in ATMs, offering up to 8% in cashback rewards in selected purchases.
While it is still in the beta stages, Binance announced it will be launched to a wider audience soon.
Colombia: Another Expansion Spot in Latam
Binance thinks Colombia is one of the countries where crypto will have the biggest adoption in the future, and believes it can support this growth with the launch of this kind of service. Daniel Acosta, general manager of Binance Colombia, stated:
Colombia is a very relevant market for Binance. We believe that offering a Binance card will foster an even broader adoption of cryptocurrencies among Colombians, which will contribute to the development of the blockchain and crypto ecosystem in the country.
Colombia is the third country that sees the release of a card product from Binance in Latam. Argentina saw the release of a similar card in August, being the first market in which Binance entered with this product. The exchange released another prepaid card product in Brazil in February, putting a special significance on the usage of the product to streamline payments, and how crypto can be more useful in this field.
What do you think about the release of the Binance prepaid card launched in Colombia? Tell us in the comment section below.
Binance and Mastercard Launch Crypto Prepaid Card in Brazil as Part of Latam Expansion
Leading crypto exchange Binance and credit card giant Mastercard have partnered to launch a prepaid crypto-linked card in Brazil as part of Binance’s expansion plans in Latam. The Binance card features 8% cashback for eligible purchases and supports on-the-fly conversion of 13 cryptocurrencies to make payments to local merchants.
Brazil Receives Binance Prepaid Card
Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange by volume traded, announced on Jan. 30 the launch of its Binance card in brazil, a product that will allow crypto users to make payments in crypto to legacy merchants. The card, which is backed by Mastercard, will enable registered customers of the exchange from all over Brazil to make crypto payments with 13 supported cryptocurrencies, including on-the-fly conversions to the Brazilian real.
The release of this product comes as no surprise to some, as Matthew Shroder, global vice president and regional director at Binance, had stated in September that Brazil was one of the top upcoming markets for the launch of a prepaid card in Latam.
Payments made with fiat currency using the prepaid card will be fee-free. However, payments involving crypto-to-fiat conversions will have a 0.9% fee. Also, the card features 8% cashback in crypto that applies to eligible purchases.
This move is part of the efforts that the exchange is making to expand its footprint in Latam. Brazil is the second market in which the instrument will be launched. Binance launched a similar product in Argentina first, in August last year.
Bringing Crypto and Payments Closer
For Binance, there is room for crypto to keep growing in the payments area, and being Brazil is one of the biggest payments hubs on the continent, the interest in bringing these services to the country is clear. About the goals that Binance wants to achieve, Guilherme Nazar, general manager at Binance for Brazil, stated:
Payments is one of the first and most obvious use cases for crypto, yet adoption has a lot of room to grow. We believe the Binance Card is a significant step in encouraging wider crypto use and global adoption, and the openness of Brazilians to innovation makes the country a great market for this release.
Nazar explained that Brazil was one of the most relevant markets for the exchange in the area, and that the company will keep investing in bringing new services and contributing to the adoption of blockchain and crypto in the country.
Binance hopes to expand this product to more markets but did not make specific announcements on this matter.
What do you think about the launch of the Binance card in Brazil? Tell us in the comments section below.
Introducing Smart Doge Prepaid Card
Smart Doge is a new Doge token, but what separates Smart Doge from other Doge tokens is Smart Doge is the first and only Doge token with a virtual prepaid Visa card. Smart Doge users can get issued a Visa card within 15 minutes and do not need to complete a KYC process to do so.
Cardholders will be able to use the virtual cards to make purchases and pay for services online. Once users are issued the virtual cards, they will be able to start using the card immediately.
All but two Smart Doge features are set to be ready once the project launches. The two features to be implemented later this year are KYC and staking.
How The Smart Doge Prepaid Card Works
The prepaid card will allow users to top up their cards with coins such as BNB, BUSD, or Smart Doge (SDOG). This gives users more options when it comes to using their cards for payments and purchases.
Although given the lack of a KYC currently, users are limited to ,000 a year on each prepaid Visa card in a bid to fight fraud.
In order to access the Visa virtual card, users will have to hold a minimum of 2 BNB worth of SDOG tokens. This clause makes sure that the tokens are not getting dumped and investors actually hold on to their coins.
KYC will be rolled out later this year and this will allow users to be able to increase their limit once they complete the necessary verifications required for the card. The KYC will be implemented once an adequate and favorable method of verification is agreed upon with the card issuer.
Staking And Other Rewards
Starting in September, Smart Doge will begin offering staking options to token holders. Holders will be able to stake their Smart Doge coins with sizable rewards for their staked coins.
BUSD auto-dividends will also be available on launch and will be auto-paid every 60 minutes to token holders. But to access this, token holders must hold at least 0.5 BNB worth of Smart Doge (SDOG) tokens for a minimum of 24 hours.
The Smart Doge team also has a buy-back mechanism that goes into effect once the project launches. The buy-back mechanism will be used to buy back and burn tokens that are sold. Reducing the supply of coins and increasing the value of the tokens in the process.
Smart Doge’s platform also features a beautiful and well-crafted DApp Control Panel. This control panel is an all-in-one control panel that will enable users to manage their virtual cards, check their earnings from their staked coins, and more.
Roadmap For Smart Doge
The pre-sale for Smart Doge will take place on July 22, 2021, and the token will launch on PancakeSwap right after.
Ahead of the launch, an Ask Me Anything session will be held a couple of days before the pre-sale to answer investors’ questions regarding the project and the future of the token. The Ask Me Anything session will be done via voice chat as opposed to a text chat session.
To learn more about Smart Doge, visit their website or join their Telegram group here.
OWNR Wallet Ends 2020 With the Launch of VISA Prepaid Crypto Card and its Own Crypto Exchange
OWNR Wallet — a multifunctional, multi-crypto wallet solution has been working on constant upgrades and new features to create a comprehensive one-stop solution for crypto-related needs. The Estonia based company has moved beyond just offering non-custodial wallets for a handful of cryptocurrencies to create an entire ecosystem that includes a low-fee crypto-to-crypto exchange platform and a prepaid VISA card to facilitate easy spending of cryptocurrency as well.
Launched recently, the OWNR Wallet prepaid VISA Card is easy to lay hands on as users can directly order one for themselves from within the app. Once received, the euro-denominated card can be used to make online as well as offline purchases and withdraw funds from ATMs, just like they would do with a regular bank card. The OWNR Wallet VISA Card also works with Apple Pay and takes no more than EUR 40 to acquire one.
Adding to the convenience of spending crypto with OWNR Wallet VISA prepaid card is the mechanism of replenishing the card balance. Users can fund their prepaid card accounts with multiple cryptocurrencies in their wallet balance.
OWNR Wallet Crypto Exchange
Apart from the VISA prepaid crypto card, OWNR Wallet achieved another significant milestone in the previous year by launching its own in-built crypto-to-crypto exchange solution. This new exchange replaces the previously used Changenow.io service for crypto exchange, thereby further reducing its dependency on third-party services to provide secure and convenient services to its userbase.
Currently, OWNR Wallet users can quickly exchange BTC, ETH, USDT, DASH, ZEC and LTC from within the app or on the website at attractive exchange fees.
Acknowledging the OWNR Wallet team’s efforts to swiftly develop and deploy these new features, CEO Grygoriy Sytenko said, “I’m happy to state that OWNR Wallet team has managed to keep the work going despite the pandemic and bring to life two significant features… Prepaid cards and own exchange are a valuable addition to the ecosystem we are building, but there’s even more ahead.”
Buy Crypto
OWNR Wallet enables users to securely purchase cryptocurrency of their choice using leading credit and debit cards, UnionPay and SEPA transfer. As an official partner of Bitfinex, OWNR Wallet also serves as a payment gateway for verified Bitfinex customers to purchase cryptocurrencies at lower fees.
To further promote adoption and use of cryptocurrencies, OWNR Wallet recently slashed its fees for crypto purchases from earlier 7% + USD 10 to 4% + USD 3 for all users. Similarly, the fees for verified Bitfinex customers was also reduced from 5% to 3%.
With more new features on the horizon, the OWNR Wallet crypto ecosystem is shaping up at breakneck speeds. Started in 2018, OWNR Wallet is a regulated crypto operator licensed by US FinCEN. The foundation of OWNR Wallet’s crypto ecosystem is its wallet solution compatible with a whole range of platforms while supporting 11 different crypto assets and a long list of ERC20 tokens. Some of its features include autodiscovery of crypto assets including ERC20 tokens, SegWit compatibility, customizable seed phrase (seed phrase length and language) and transaction fees, 24/7 customer support, full EOS support and additional security levels.
The OWNR Wallet ecosystem will soon get its own blockchain explorer and various advanced features that can prove to be immensely helpful for professional traders, developers and enterprises.
Learn more about OWNR Wallet at – https://ownrwallet.com/
Bitcoin Scammers Tired of Crypto as Focus Switches to Prepaid Cards
n Scammers may be ditching Bitcoin for prepaid bank cards, according to a new report by Kaspersky Labn
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BitFlyer Launches Visa Powered Prepaid Bitcoin Card
Japan’s largest Bitcoin exchange, bitFlyer, have announced that they will launch a Bitcoin debit card powered by Visa. This development will bring the ever-growing Japanese crypto market closer to being able to use Bitcoin at a variety of locations accepting Visa cards. According to bitFlyer, the cards will facilitate the spending of crypto at “more … Continue reading BitFlyer Launches Visa Powered Prepaid Bitcoin Card
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