Wirex card review
Fees:
Rewards:
Network:
Funding methods:
Fees
The Wirex card doesn’t charge transaction fees but you need to pay a monthly $1.50 card maintenance fee and a 2% fee on ATM withdrawals that exceed $200. The card has zero annual or issuance fees and there’s also no reissuance fee if you lose your card.
| Type of fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual | No fee |
| Topup | No fee |
| Transaction | No fee |
| ATM withdrawal | Free up to $200 and thereafter a 2% fee |
| Currency exchange (non CAD) | No fee |
| Account closure | No fee |
| Reissue card | No fee |
In contrast, the BitPay VISA card has no annual or maintenance fees but you need to pay a high 3% conversion fee when you make purchases and a flat $2.50 fee for all ATM withdrawals. There’s a $10 charge for both card issuance and reissuance, while an inactivity fee of $5 per month applies if you don’t use the card to make transactions for over 90 days.
Limits
The Wirex card has a relatively low daily ATM withdrawal limit of $700 and $2,700 for the month and you can cash out your funds up to four times a day. Wirex hasn’t disclosed its load frequency limits but you can spend up to $5,500 a day or $13,000 a month and unlike most other cards on the market, there’s no maximum balance limit.
| Type of limit | Amount |
|---|---|
| Free ATM withdrawal | Up to $200 |
| ATM withdrawal limit | $700 a day and $2,700 a month |
| ATM withdrawal frequency | Four times a day |
| Max balance | No limit |
| POS purchase | $5,500 a day and $13,000 a month |
| Load frequency | Undisclosed |
With the BitPay card, the daily ATM withdrawal limit is $6,000 and you can cash out your funds up to three times a day. You’re allowed a maximum balance of $25,000 and the Terms and Conditions mandate that you can load up to $10,000 a day onto the card. There’s also a high maximum purchase limit of $10,000 a day.
Merchant and POS network
The Wirex card uses the VISA network which is available in Canada and at 46 million merchants worldwide. For instance, you can use the card at leading Canadian stores like Sobeys, Loblaws or Tim Hortons.
Rewards
The Wirex card offers up to 8% rewards on spending, which enables you to integrate crypto into your daily purchases and save money on transactions but you can only earn a percentage back in WXT. For example, if you’re in the Standard tier staking 150,000 worth of WXT, you’re eligible for 0.5% rewards on your spending. This percentage increases to 8% if you’re in the Elite tier staking 1,500,000 worth of WXT. There’s also a monthly maximum limit on the amount of WXT rewards you can earn which is based on your card tier.
Wirex is one of the only crypto companies to offer a card savings bonus, which is the annual interest on your WXT balance that’s paid to you monthly. Premium card users can get a 4% annual savings bonus, while Elite card users can get a 12% bonus. To be eligible, you must hold and stake WXT in your Wirex account for a minimum of 180 days. In addition, if you share a referral link with your friends and family, you can receive $15 in WXT for each person who deposits at least $100 into a Wirex account.
| Card tier | WXT staking requirement | Rewards on purchases |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 150,000 | 0.5% |
| Premium | 250,000 | 3% |
| Elite | 1,500,000 | 8% |
| Card tier | Monthly maximum WXT rewards limit |
|---|---|
| Standard | 10,000 |
| Premium | 50,000 |
| Elite | 150,000 |
| Card tier | Annual savings bonus |
|---|---|
| Standard | Not eligible |
| Premium | 4% |
| Elite | 12% |
Staking
Card users can’t stake their cryptos and earn rewards as this isn’t available at Wirex.
Is Wirex card safe?
Wirex has been in operation since 2016, amassing over four million users across the world and has developed a good standing with community members due to the industry-standard security measures it has in place. For example, accounts are secured with state-of-the-art facial verification and biometric technology, as well as 256-bit AES data encryption, while the majority of assets deposited onto the platform are held in cold storage multi-signature vaults. The company complies with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines, is a licensed e-money issuer with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is regulated by the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency.
| Trustpilot | 3.3 star |
| Investopedia | 3.1 star |
| Forbes | Unrated |
| Nerdwallet | Unrated |
| Business Insider | Unrated |
A relatively high percentage of users (52%) rate Wirex with five stars on Trustpilot, which is a good indicator of safety. The most common issues raised are related to customer service, accounts and deposits but the company hasn’t been linked with any known scandals. In fact, when Wirex became officially licensed as an e-money issuer with the FCA in 2018, it was only the third company in the world to do so at the time. Many people praise them for a great mobile app and the WXT rewards program which comes with an annual savings bonus.
How to get a Wirex card?
Registration
You need to sign up for a Wirex account in order to apply for the card and this can be done by:
- Visiting the website and inputting your email address and country of residence so you can start the process.
- After verifying your email address, you need to enter your full name, address and date of birth.
- You then have to enter your phone number to receive an SMS verification text message.
- After verifying your phone number, you have to complete KYC verification.
- Upon successful registration and passing verification, visit the dashboard and click on the ‘Order card’ option.
- You are then redirected to a new page where you have to click ‘Get the card’.
- You then need to confirm the name you want to appear on the card and your delivery address in order to receive the card.
KYC
Multi-step KYC verification is mandatory for all Wirex card users in Canada. The company asks you for proof of identity, which can be a drivers license, government-issued ID or passport, as well as proof of address, which can be a utility bill, letter from your local municipality, house rental agreement, tax letter, credit card statement or bank account statement. You must provide a clear and visible picture of the front and back side of your documents and you need to submit a selfie.
Delivery
You can receive your physical card in up to four working days but it’s not possible to get a virtual card for online use.
Loading or topup Wirex card
The card is funded by the cash or crypto balance in your Wirex account and the accepted payment methods to fund your Wirex account include debit and credit card, wire transfer, bank transfer, Google Pay or Apple Pay.
CashtoCode eVoucher
You can’t fund your card with a CashtoCode eVoucher as this isn’t offered at Wirex.
Customer Support
Customer service options are limited at Wirex with only an online Help Center that displays FAQs and no phone support, email address or live chat function.
| Live chat | No live chat function |
| Phone support | No customer phone line available |
| No customer service email available | |
| FAQs | Available |
Wirex uses a ticketing system where you need to fill in an online form that includes a subject, description and additional attachment option. For users who are dealing with emergency account issues, there’s no way to speak with customer service on the phone or through live chat.
Wirex card is recommended to users who are looking to conveniently spend their crypto or stablecoins
The Wirex card is recommended to users who are looking to conveniently spend their crypto or stablecoins through an FCA-licensed company, all while earning rewards of up to 8% and an annual savings bonus. However, there’s a monthly $1.50 maintenance fee which is uncommon for most cards on the market, a relatively low daily ATM withdrawal limit and crypto rewards are only available in WXT.
But if you don’t mind this, the Wirex card can still be a great option if you want a card with no maximum balance limit that you can receive in the mail in less than a week. Wirex could improve its card by expanding its range of crypto rewards, removing the card maintenance fee or increasing its daily ATM withdrawal limit in line with market standards.
Alternatives of Wirex
- No transaction, annual, maintenance, issuance or ATM fees
- Earn up to 5% in crypto rewards on purchases
- Unlimited airport lounge access at over 500 airports
- Reimbursement for Expedia, Airbnb, Spotify, Amazon Prime and Netflix
- High daily purchase limits
- Use the card with any merchant that accepts VISA
- Extremely high CRO staking requirements for most tiers
- A relatively high 2% foreign currency administration fee
- High card reissuance fee of $70
- 14 working days to receive your card
- No transaction, annual or maintenance fees
- Earn up to 4% in crypto rewards on purchases
- Ability to conveniently withdraw at ATMs using your crypto balance
- Use the card with any merchant that accepts VISA
- Ability to track your spending and manage card on the Coinbase mobile app
- No credit checks to obtain the card
- A relatively high conversion fee
- Low maximum daily purchase limit which puts a cap on crypto rewards
- No tiered categories for spending
- Low 0.9% transaction fee
- No annual, maintenance or issuance fees
- Easily convert crypto into FIAT for spending or at ATMs
- 50 merchants participate in the rewards program
- No credit check to obtain the card
- Track your spending via the modern Binance mobile app
- A low daily ATM withdrawal limit
- 45 days to receive your card
- Crypto rewards are only available in BNB
With the Crypto.com card, the premium tier has a high daily ATM withdrawal limit of $2,500 and $15,000 for the month, while all card tiers are subject to no yearly ATM withdrawal limits. The percentage of rewards you earn depends on your tier, for instance, the premium card comes with a $400,000 staking requirement and earns 5% in CRO rewards on purchases, as well as monthly reimbursement on subscription services like Spotify, Amazon Prime and Netflix. There’s a relatively high 2% foreign currency administration fee but no card maintenance fees.
The Coinbase card has a high daily ATM withdrawal limit of $1,000 and you can cash out your funds up to six times a day. You can save money on every transaction made using the card as there are nine available cryptos which earn a specific percentage back. For example, if you spend Ethereum, you can receive 1% rewards in Ethereum. Higher percentages are available for The Graph and Stellar Lumens which both offer 4% rewards. There’s a relatively high 2.49% conversion fee when you make purchases with any crypto apart from USDC but no card maintenance fees.
The Binance card has a low daily ATM withdrawal limit of $400 but a higher daily purchase limit of $12,500 for the physical card and $1,200 for the virtual card. You can get up to 8% rewards in the company’s own token, BNB every time you make a purchase and the percentage you earn depends both on your card tier and BNB holdings. For example, if you have a monthly average balance of 600 BNB in your Binance wallet, you’re eligible for 8% rewards on your spending. There’s a low 0.9% transaction fee for purchases but no card maintenance fees.
FAQs
Yes, because Wirex has been in operation since 2016, amassing over four million users across the world and has developed a good standing with community members due to positive user experiences and industry-standard security measures that it has in place.
WXT is the native crypto of the Wirex platform and depending on how much of it you hold in your account and your card tier level, you can earn differing percentages of WXT rewards.
Yes, Wirex automatically converts the local currency when you pay abroad which the company claims can save you money on foreign exchange fees.
You can manage your card and track spending via the Wirex website or mobile app.
You can withdraw up to $700 a day.
No, but you need to pay a $1.50 monthly maintenance fee in order to use the card.
You need to report this immediately to the Wirex customer service team via their online ticketing system and they can issue you with a new card.
If you share a referral link with your friends and family, you can receive $15 in WXT for each person who deposits at least $100 into a Wirex account.
Specification: Wirex card review
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