There are currently eight debit cards that allow soending of Digital Assets using a “flexible friend”: Bitpay, Shift, Wirex, Cryptopay, Fuzex, Crypto.com, Aximetria and Revolut. However, there are some issues facing debit cards that offer cypto payment option, due to differences in legal requirements in jurisdictions around the world.
Wirex CEO, Pavel Matveev, highlighted one of the challenges being the need for a “BIN sponsor”. Bank Identification Number (BIN) sponsorship which refers to the company that possesses membership of a card payment network, such as Visa or Mastercard.
He revealed: “Several BIN sponsors were hesitant to work with Wirex at first when they learned that part of our model encompasses cryptocurrencies.” Since then, however, Matveev says that “BIN sponsors have become more receptive to crypto”.
Some countries have banned the use of Digital Assets to pay for goods such as China, Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Vietnam, while others like USA, Canada and Australia are more supportive. There have been reports that Russia has banned the use of Digital Assets, but recently Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev was quoted as saying, ‘Using cryptocurrency debit cards to pay for goods and services does not contradict Russian law’.
Despite the challenges and confusion it appears not to have stopped Baanx from looking to launch a new Fiat and Crypto enabled debit card with Near Field Communication (NFC).
NFC technology enables point of sale payment with any supported cryptocurrency, instantly converting into fiat currency to pay for goods and services.
The ability to use Digital Assets with a Debit card could significantly increase the number of people involved in Digital Assets, as more and more people turn away from using cash and rely on debit and credit cards.
