My Experience with Wirex Card (formerly e-coin)

 

I've been using my Wirex card for a little while now and I just wanted to share my experience with others.

A bit of background:

 

I had initially ordered the card for one main reason; when I started buying bitcoin a couple of years ago I was reluctant to purchase via exchanges. On every exchange there were numerous traders selling bitcoin and, whilst they had ratings to convey the quality of the service they offered, essentially these were complete strangers who I was expected to send my name, home address, a photo of myself and a scanned copy of my passport to - and in addition to all of that, they would now also be receiving my bank details when the transfer for the purchase came through. Maybe I'm being excessively cautious, but identity theft is incredibly easy to carry out in the UK; something to which I can testify unfortunately having been on the receiving end on more than one occasion. I’m sure all of these bitcoin traders were honest, and doing very well for themselves, and they wouldn’t need to resort to nefarious means to acquire more capital, however there is no guarantee, and all it would take would be for one trader to sell all the details to some fraudster without even getting involved in the act. Then one has to consider the security of the platform…
 

 
Anyway, I was hoping to find a way to buy bitcoin without going to individuals on internet exchanges. The bitcoin ATMs are great, but you do pay a hefty premium for the privilege of anonimity. When I discovered the Wirex card I was quite excited as it would offer me a vehicle by which I could transfer capital direct from my bank account, and then purchase bitcoin with ease, as and when I pleased. In fact, there is no reason not to load the card with cash for day to day use in place of ones usual bank issued card. That way the fiat currency can be used when needed, and if a good opportunity presents itself, the readily available funds can be instantly exchanged for bitcoin.

As mentioned, the Wirex card of course works like any other debit card, in that it can be used for normal fiat currency purchases, both online with the free virtual card, and in the shops with the physical card (delivered anywhere in the world as far as I understand). This is very useful, and I guess this is the main intended purpose of the Wirex card, but for me it is not the most important aspect. At the moment I intend to accrue cryptocurrencies, not to spend them, so this will allow me to do so. It is nonetheless reassuring to know that I have a means to cash out or spend the bitcoins if the circumstances arise.

Bitcoins and fiat currency can be exchanged both ways at spot rate. The card can also be topped up using bitcoin for the purpose of storing, converting or spending. Altcoins can also be used to fund the account, but not stored on the account; they would need to be converted to either bitcoin or fiat currency.

Wirex offer both virtual and plastic cards denominated in USD, GBP and EUR. This becomes a very practical and frugal option for people who travel, or those who make transactions between these currencies. Funds on one card can be converted to the other currencies and stored on their respective cards at what I understand to also be spot rate. This cuts out the expensive currency exchange services which offer terrible spreads, and in some cases even charge an additional commission.

As well as funding the account via cryptocurrencies, fiat currency can be transferred via a straight forward bank transfer which is relatively quick in my experience (the last one took less than a day) and also inexpensive (particularly for larger transfers), as well as using internet payment systems such as Paypal, Alipay and other similar services.

All in all I am very happy with the account and its features, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t already have one; whether one is looking to incorporate cryptocurrencies into their day to day financial activity, or just as a way to pick up bitcoin as an investment for the long haul.

In short, the Wirex card is the bridge between traditional banking and crypto banking/transacting.

I’m just a layman, but if anyone has any questions about the product or service provided, please reply below and I will try to answer to the best of my ability.

Anyone interested in getting a Wirex card can receive 25% off using this link

 
Thanks for reading my post!