Coinbase Launches Crypto Visa Debit Card for UK and EU Customers

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has launched a Visa debit card allowing customers in the U.K. and EU to spend their cryptocurrencies directly from their Coinbase accounts.

The San Francisco-based firm announced the news in a blog post on Wednesday, saying that with the "Coinbase Card," customers will be able to spend their bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC) and other cryptocurrencies “as effortlessly as the money in their bank.”

The exchange said it will “instantly” convert cryptocurrency to fiat currency, such as the British pound (GBP), when customers complete a transaction using the debit card.

The card supports all crypto assets available to buy and sell on the Coinbase platform, and customers can use them to pay for everyday purchases, such as a meal or booking tickets, according to the announcement.

With previously available products of this type, customers had to pre-load a specified amount of cryptocurrency onto the card in order to spend, Coinbase said.

The exchange has also launched an app for the card on both Android and iOS platforms, enabling customers to select which cryptocurrency wallet they will use to fund their spending. The app also offers “instant” receipts, transaction summaries and spending categories.

For the first 1,000 customers, Coinbase said it will waive the card issuance fee of £4.95 ($6.48).

PaySafe, a U.K. payment processor, is the issuer of the cards, a Coinbase spokesperson told CoinDesk.

In a similar development last month, banking startup 2gether said it was launching a prepaid Visa debit card that allows users to spend cryptocurrencies. With the 2gether card, customers will be able to pay with either euros or any of the following seven cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, XRP, bitcoin cash (BCH), EOS, Stellar (XLM) and litecoin (LTC).

Coinbase Card image courtesy of the company