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Xapo – Bitcoin debit card

xapo.com

11–20 of 34 posts

Re: Xapo – Bitcoin debit card

#13
post #5

A lot of people are also upset because they signed up for the beta paid a $15 fee with the promise that there wouldn't be any additional fees. 2 days ago, they decided to institute a $5 a month account fee.

Smart given the fees they must be charged for using the Visa network.

Re: Xapo – Bitcoin debit card

#14
post #9
post #8

So they charge a 1% fee to fund the account with a wire transfer. Can someone explain -- I am not attacking this, I am seriously wondering -- why anyone would wire funds into this account, pay a 1% fee, and then pay with a debit card like they could from any other bank account? (I get if you already have bitcoin, but I'm wondering what the point of the wire transfer support is.) Source: http://help.xapo.com/questions…

People might want to participate in and support the Bitcoin ecosystem, for economic, political, or technological reasons. People might just be curious about the technology and want to play with it.

That's a little abstract.. Without deep diving is there a quick summary of the economic/political/technological reasons why one would pay an extra 1% fee to pay this way? Apart from curiosity.

Re: Xapo – Bitcoin debit card

#15
post #3

FYI: Unfortunately, due to financial regulations in the U.S. and India, Xapo cannot currently ship debit cards to addresses located in the U.S. or India. --> http://help.xapo.com/95428-Is-the-Xapo-Debit-Card-available-...

It's sad to see that the united states has to be mentioned like this now.

Re: Xapo – Bitcoin debit card

#16
post #8

So they charge a 1% fee to fund the account with a wire transfer. Can someone explain -- I am not attacking this, I am seriously wondering -- why anyone would wire funds into this account, pay a 1% fee, and then pay with a debit card like they could from any other bank account? (I get if you already have bitcoin, but I'm wondering what the point of the wire transfer support is.) Source: http://help.xapo.com/questions…

Many people in this world don't have access to International banking. (because of local conditions or restrictions). This solves the problem.

Re: Xapo – Bitcoin debit card

#18
post #14
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People might want to participate in and support the Bitcoin ecosystem, for economic, political, or technological reasons. People might just be curious about the technology and want to play with it.

That's a little abstract.. Without deep diving is there a quick summary of the economic/political/technological reasons why one would pay an extra 1% fee to pay this way? Apart from curiosity.

For me that's actually cheaper than what my bank charges for international transactions and transfers. I need this often enough that it would save me quite a bit of cash. Also there's no fee if you have existing bitcoins by the looks of things, so the 1% is just a convenience tax, afaik there are cheaper ways to buy bitcoins that circumnavigate this. I admit to not knowing much about bitcoin, but this product has piqued my interest as it might solve a few of my banking woes

Re: Xapo – Bitcoin debit card

#19
post #11

They charge a 3% fee for currency conversion, and that's every transaction since you are paying with bitcoin.

Also: “Note that there is a fee to store your coins in Xapo's Vault of 0.12% per year. The storage fee is charged in bitcoins and is calculated based on the number of coins you are transferring into the Vault.”
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