With the world’s leading crypto exchange Binance, a major player in the industry is entering the crypto credit card business: The Binance Card is scheduled to be available in the EU from August 2020. This will give providers such as Coinbase, TenX and Crypo.com strong competition.
Binance finally fulfils the wish of many customers for a crypto credit card. Already in August, the Binance Card should be operational in the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), according to a blog post of the crypto exchange. The first announcement of the Binance Card was already made in March. In the meantime, Binance has taken over the financial services provider Swipe. This deal has obviously cleared the way for the Binance Card, which will now differ in some details from the original plan.
Background on the Binance crypto credit card
Originally, the Binance Card was announced as a Visa debit credit card and should natively support Bitcoin (BTC) as well as Binance Coin (BNB). Now the Swipe Token (SXP) and BUSD (US Dollar Stablecoin from Binance) are added to the start. The FAQ for the Binance Card now states that the exact issuer of the Binance crypto credit card will depend on the user’s place of residence, so it could be Mastercard as well as Visa.
Binance, in conjunction with Swipe, is linking its credit cards with a new Card Wallet. Crypto credits can be transferred to this wallet, which are then automatically converted to Fiat at market prices during the payment process. There is currently no longer any question of the earlier goal of being able to pay directly in Bitcoin, for example, where BTC is accepted.
According to Binance, the launch date of August means that virtual credit cards will be activated first. The process of manufacturing physical credit cards has already begun, but disembarkation is not expected to begin for another six to eight weeks, i.e. towards September. Whether those who had already registered for the Binance Card in March will now receive priority delivery remained open. However, the virtual credit cards can already be linked to Google Pay and Samsung Pay and of course used online.
A table of fees for the Binance Card is still missing. This could be related to country-specific regulations. However, one detail that is important for Binance customers is clear: balances in BNB, the Binance discount token stored on the Card Wallet, are counted when the daily average is calculated in BNB. This determines, for example, discounts on trading fees at Binance and is a prerequisite for participating in Binance’s attractive IEOs.
Conclusion: Binance Card with potential to become the market leader among crypto credit cards
The so-called “small print” on the Binance Card is still missing in order to put it in comparison with the competition. However, Binance regularly proves that it is not willing to venture into new business areas without undercutting competitors in terms of fees. We therefore expect fair business conditions. The downside is the short list of supported crypto currencies and – apparently – the abandonment of direct payment functions via crypto without the detour of conversion to Fiat. Here apparently TenX remains for the time being the only provider for Germany.
Nevertheless, the hymn of praise can be understood by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who sees the Binance Card as a further step towards integrating crypto into everyday life. Because a crypto credit card opens up offline and online payment options worldwide. To apply for your Binance Card, a webpage has already been set up here. If you are already a Binance customer and have successfully completed the authentication process up to KYC Level 2, you can also log in and start using the “Card Wallet” menu item on the platform.
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