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Bitpay Card Review: My Experience Living Off The Debit Card (2020)
In this review, I am going to cover my experience living off of the Bitpay Card. In 2017, I was hired to build a cryptococurrency hardware wallet for a prominent crypto company and I was paid directly in bitcoin and bitcoin cash. I needed to find a way to pay my bills with crypto in this legacy financial system that would not allow me to pay directly for my rent, groceries, gasoline, etc… This is when I did thorough research and discovered there were several crypto debit cards that existed.
Which one should I use? Which one works best and has the lowest fees? How much does it cost to get one? How easy is it to use? These were all questions I had when I first started researching these options and after doing a few weeks of research, it was clear that the best solution was to use the BitPay card.
I was already using BitPay to accept payment through this website when it was used for ecommerce, but I was unaware at the time that they had a crypto to Visa cash option that works for personal use. I was already happy with the experience I had using them as a payment processor, so I figured I would try their debit card for every day use. My experience and FAQ’s are detailed below!
HOW DOES THE BITPAY CARD WORK?
So here are the basic process of using the card from start to finish:
- Go to Bitpay.com/card and request a card. It will cost $9.95 as a one-time fee after you’ve filled out the application, which requires your personal details to send the card to.
- Wait 5-7 business days for the card to arrive (if you’re in the U.S.) It can take up to 21 business days for other countries.
- Once the card is received, call the 1-800 number on the front sticker to activate and set a PIN. Then go to your account to enter in the secret code sent in the letter to activate.
- Once activated, you are able to see your card available for crypto loads from the Bitpay mobile app and start using.
- Choose the wallet (either bitcoin or bitcoin cash) that you want to load onto the card, the choose the USD amount you want to add, then authenticate with your password and Face ID (if one is setup for extra security on the Bitpay wallet app)
- You’re done, money is loaded instantly and you will receive a confirmation email once you have completed the “Slide to Pay” function on the final screen.
- You are free to use this Bitpay card online, in person at any merchant that accepts Visa, or at the ATM.
My experience has been one that has shown this to be not only a very simple process, but also one that you can load money on in a pinch if you need to top off or load up your card because you don’t have enough funds. I have also experienced an issue where the card was declined once, but it was the merchant who I was using who said his bank was declining it. Once I called Bitpay’s card services, I was able to have them unblock it on their end and it went through perfectly.
WHAT CRYPTOCURRENCIES CAN I USE WITH THIS BITPAY DEBIT CARD?
Currently, the only two cryptocurrencies that can be used to load up the card on the prepaid Visa is Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). There have been plans to add more in the future, but for the time being, these are the only coins that are supported on Bitpay’s platform for debit card usage. There have been rumors that Ethereum (ETH) may be the next coin added for further altcoin support, but that has not been confirmed by the company.
HOW DO I PUT MONEY ON MY BITPAY CARD?
Once you have the card activated and you have linked your card account online, you will see the card option to “Add Funds” on the Bitpay Wallet App. Once you click on this, you can select the USD amount or toggle to the BTC or BCH side to calculate the exact amount you want to load. This will have you select the wallet you want to fund with in the drop down menu. Once you select the wallet, you will confirm the total and continue with “Slide To Pay” at the bottom, and will load instantly!
(PRO-TIP: If you are concerned about price fluctuation, you can keep your funds on your wallets and only top off the card at the exact moment before you purchase. This gives you flexibility in trying to monitor and maximize the price volatility in your favor!)
CAN I USE THE BITPAY CARD TO WITHDRAW CASH FROM AN ATM?
Yes. I have used this in a pinch where a card is not accepted when I went to a concert venue, however, keep in mind you will incur a $5 fee for ATM withdrawals and that does not include any ATM fee’s the machine you are using will incur. In some cases, it is not worth it to use this feature, but it is nice to know you have the option if it’s required.
It is also nice to know that when using a debit option at a merchant, you can easily choose the “cash back” option as a free way to get cash back, but that is usually limited to $100 dollars. This is a work around I would frequently use if I knew I needed to have some cash on hand for certain occasions and is nice to avoid those fees.
CONCLUSION
I was able to successfully use this to make most purchases I needed to make for the past 2 years. There are some bills that people pay that required ACH and will not take a debit or credit card. IN these instances, I was able to use Coinbase to as a crypto to fiat off-ramp, but I avoided using this as much as possible as the fees were not helpful, and I liked the idea that I could use crypto top make payments in the real world, without a hitch.
I also negotiated a way to start paying rent and other bills via Venmo, which was a nice workaround top using ACH. I was so hell-bent on using crypto as a viable payment source to pay my living expenses, that I went out of my way to make this happen. Any funds that I did not load onto my card, I only kept a little of it on the Bitpay wallet app and then kept the savings (as everyone should) onto my KeepKey hardware wallet.
If you are unfamiliar of the best practices for securing your cryptocurrency the right way, I will leave my link here for my FREE E-BOOK that details the top 5 ways to secure your cryptocurrency, and I recommend giving it a look, as it’s free.
All in all, this was a viable solution to live on, but I understand that some people are unable to use this in their particular country or their particular circumstance. If you live in any European or Asian countries and would like the option to use a crypto debit card, you can also try Wirex.
The Bitpay card is an option that does have a monthly fee, but it primarily used on that side of the world and has a similar user experience. I would recommend using this card for ANYONE that wants an option to “cash out their crypto” in a moments notice that would prefer not paying any exchange fees and needs it to happen within seconds.
What do you think? Are there any better crypto debit card options that you have used? If so, let me know in the comments below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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CoinMama Review (2020) | The BEST Way To Buy Bitcoin With Credit Card?
In this CoinMama review we are going to do a deep dive into a CoinMama and find out if it’s the best way to buy bitcoin with credit card. Are the fees high? Is it safe? What credit cards can I use to buy bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies)? We are going to answer all of these questions and more in this review, stay tuned for the whole review! One of the most searched phrases right now on the internet is “How to buy bitcoin with credit card”, and for good reason. It’s the easiest way to buy bitcoin without having to share a lot personal information and having to wait 3-7 business days when verifying your bank account.
I also urge you to check out a recent article I wrote that details a handful of different ways (CoinMama included) to easily buy bitcoin if you’re new to the process and you want a no-nonsense and easy way to do this. You can find that HERE. Now, let’s get down to finding out why CoinMama was the easiest way for me to buy bitcoin with a credit card, and why I still use it today!
How Does It Work?
It’s a simple 3-step process to use this site and it took me less than 10 minutes to make my first purchase when I first used this service over 2 years ago. If you’re looking to purchase not only Bitcoin, but also ETH, LTC, BCH, ETC, XRP, QTUM, and ADA in a hassle-free way, then CoinMama is the way to go. First, you register your account with basic information and gain access to the account where you can customize your purchase. Second, you can choose how much information you want to add, depending how much you want to buy in one shot.
Level 1 verification allows you up to $15,000 USD worth of BTC (or any other coin) with only a government issued ID (which is required for KYC) and as soon as you upload it, you can start buying in less than 10 minutes. The 3rd and final step is purchase the coin and amounts you want after you confirm your basic verification and it’s delivered in under 10 minutes. This process is very easy and MUCH quicker than any other exchange I’ve personally used. (Don’t even get me started on Coinbase).
How Much Does It Cost? What Are The Fees?
You can use a bank transfer (if you choose) and it will cost you less, but it will also take longer. However, the real “instant” purchase and service you’re looking for is for debit and credit cards. The fees are as follows:
Since there is no central bank controlling the bitcoin rate, each website has its own bitcoin rate. The price you see on our website is Coinmama’s bitcoin rate and includes our fee of 5.90%.
For credit/debit card transactions, the payment processor charges 5.00% additional fee. Unlike credit/debit card transactions, if you pay by bank wire there is 0.00% processing fee. The card processing fee will be added after choosing your method of payment. Apart from our fees, your bank may incur their own. If you’re not sure, contact them before placing your order.
Don’t let this turn you off, as some of the competitors that offer a similar service as CoinMama, they charge ridiculous fees and can take up to 10 days to verify and deliver your cryptocurrency. There is a price to pay for very quick delivery and most credit card companies build that fee into the cost here to mitigate some of the risks of fraud and other factors as well.
Trust me when I say, if you want to use a debit or credit card to buy bitcoin, this is your best best. Especially if you need it now.
What Countries Are Supported?
I won’t list all supported countries here as there are over 188 countries supported. Yes, that many. That is why this is one of the most trusted services in the entire industry and has a very broad reach. If you want to verify if your country is supported, you can check it out HERE. Additionally, The US has some restrictions on states, but 45 out of the 50 states are included for support. Those specific states (if you’re concerned) can be found at the link HERE.
Again, I will say, this has a much wider reach in terms of countries supported than the likes of Paxful or Coinbase. I’ve done the research so you don’t have to!
What’s Their Reputation? Is It Safe To Use?
As mentioned above, this company has been around since 2013 and has a very well received reputation and track record. I have never once had an issue with using this service, nor have I had any indication that it was fraudulent in any way. CoinMama has been selling bitcoin via debit and credit cards longer than any other service to date and was first to market in this regard. I have used them personally about 6 or 7 times and have never once thought of using another service for using a credit or debit card to purchase my cryptocurrency.
What’s The Verification Process? How Long Does It Take?
There are multiple levels of verification depending on how high of a limit you need to purchase every month, but the standard Level 1 verification only takes about 10 minutes and allows up to $15,000 USD (as mentioned above). This really applies to 99% of people and I will leave a link below if you want to understand what else is required if you want to purchase more than 15k per month. Once you’ve completed verification your bitcoin is delivered to your specified address instantly!
For further verification requirements, you can refer to this link HERE
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CoinMama Review – Conclusion
Overall, if you need to get bitcoin fast and time is of the essence, then you can’t go wrong with CoinMama. Yes, if you have time to kill and you’re ok with waiting up to 10 business days and you want to provide your bank account, there are other solutions you can use, which I will link to in a future review update. But for most people that are skeptical of providing all their banking information just a save a few bucks, you won’t find better service or a better deal to buy bitcoin with a credit card than CoinMama.
There’s a reason myself and many others have used this service more than once and will continue to do so. In a world where new crypto companies are coming into existing, having a long standing track record really counts in this industry and I have no qualms about CoinMama. Yes, you can say I’m a fan, and if you decide to use this service, I am confident you will be too.
What do you think? Is there a better place to buy bitcoin with a credit card? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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Bitcoin Fees: How To Check When You’re Sending A Transaction (2020)
In this article, I’m going to address how to check what the bitcoin fees are for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Not many people think about the “fees” when sending their first bitcoin transaction, as it’s just so exhilarating that you can transact value without permission from a bank or other institution.
This is really a minute detail, however the fees for sending a bitcoin transaction back in 2017 was upwards of 75$ when it was at it’s peak. This means you need to be able to determine if the fees are a “fair” price at a moments notice and if it will significantly cost you to move your bitcoin.
Luckily, there are a few different resources you can use to check not only what the current bitcoin fees are, but also check out the fees for other cryptocurrencies and Ethereum as well. Additionally, you need to be able to determine what the cost structure is and if you can pay more for a priority transaction. Well, I’m here to break it all down for you. Let’s get started with the #1 resource I use on a regular basis to check the current fees for sending bitcoin in a transaction!
Before I jump down there, I wanted to provide you with a free resource for protecting your cryptocurrency and it’s a free e-book I recently wrote and you can obtain it for free on my website here at the top right corner in an orange button. “5 Best Ways To Secure Your Cryptocurrency” is available to download now! Go grab it!
HOW TO CHECK BITCOIN FEES ON BITCOINFEES.INFO
Bitcoinfees.info is one of the best resources to check real-time bitcoin fees and what amount of time you would need to wait for your transaction to be confirmed for that fee. For example, it will let you know what the estimated fee is if you want it confirmed in the next block (10 mins), within the next 3 blocks (30 mins), or next 6 blocks (60 mins).
As you wait longer the fees will go down, but not drastically. To provide a frame of reference, the current fees at the time of this writing is $2.17 USD fee for having my transaction in the next block and $0.78 cents in the next 6 blocks.
This varies and fluctuates and is determined by the demand in volume and what specific mining pools are charging and maintaining a competitive marketplace. Why are there fees if they receive a block reward already? Well, to put it frankly, because they can.
Bitcoin miners are the groups of people that use their hash power to ensure the transaction is not only confirmed, but that it’s also safe and secure. It is a necessary component for the network and ecosystem to flourish and maintain economic incentive.
This site also shows your daily, monthly, and yearly averages in the form of charts and graphs to show you how this progresses overtime. They also consider that the average bitcoin transaction is 250 satoshis per byte large for measuring these averages. This also includes the basis of the 1 MB blocks that the current block size represents and would not relate to the fees for the lightning network.
HOW TO CHECK BITCOIN FEES ON COINBASE
The fees charged by Coinbase are pretty low. But they can add up, especially if you use the service often. You will see the buying and selling fees we described above.
There may also be fixed and variable fees depending on the amount of the transaction. And when your purchases are smaller, there is a flat fee charged.
Here are the flat fees for the smaller transactions:
- If you are buying or selling in the amount of $10.99 or less, the fee is $0.99
- If you are buying or selling between $11 and 26.49, the fee is $1.49
- If you are buying or selling from $26.50 to $51.99, the fee is $1.99
- If you are buying or selling from $52 to $78.05, the fee is $2.99
This is a fairly low and tiered system, but as you can see, this fee is for Coinbase and does not include any miner fees or network fees. So please keep in mind that that you will need to add the two totals together in order to find out what you will actually be paying.
HOW TO CHECK ETHEREUM FEES
For ETH, I typically go to ETH Gas Station for this information as it’s the most real-time and accurate in my experience. When sending Ether in a transaction, it uses a component of fees known as “Gas”. What is gas? It’s essentially a fraction of Ethereum that is required to pay for the transaction and is typically much cheaper than bitcoin transaction fees. This also applies to ERC-20 tokens and security tokens as well as they are built on top of the Ethereum network.
This has several other tools to estimate transactions for a specific block and also if you want it applied to s specific smart contract on the network. It includes anything else you may need to know including what mining pools are currently verifying on the network, what the estimated wait time is to have your transaction included in a specific block, and also how full or empty these blocks are.
All in all, this is the only resource I need when trying to estimate how much I will be paying in fees and the only other resource I might use is the specific block explorer I would use in order to verify the status of my transaction. For those of you who do not know what a block explorer is, it is basically a way for you to check the status of your transaction and how many confirmations it’s received before it’s delivered to the recipient.
CONCLUSION
Overall, these are the most common resources you will use to check the transaction fees for bitcoin and Ethereum as these are the largest networks by volume and therefore, the most likely to be used when sending crypto. You can also check each individual blockchain if you want to determine what the fees are for, say “Monero” for example.
In the event I want to know what the estimated fees for that example would be to attempt a transaction when sending from my hot wallet, or I would simply use google and include the “coins name + transaction fees” to get the most accurate result. These examples hopefully clarify some of the questions that surround how much you will pay in fees at an given time on these popular coins and networks. Until next time…
What are your favorite resources to check crypto transaction fees? Sound off in the comments below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
