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Topic: [unofficial] CoinDebit NO-KYC pre-paid cards? (Read 1062 times)

legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
December 08, 2023, 08:34:48 AM
#56
Please note that coindebit.io is service is currently down until further notice.
Website is still available and working, but you can't create new cards at the moment.

Here is official announcement from coindebit Founder and CEO:

Quote
Dear CoinDebit users,

CoinDebit will be temporarily shutting down service while we transition to a card issuing provider who can better support our model of accepting bitcoin for prepaid cards. Our current system was strained to the breaking point by rapid user growth. We want to thank all our users as we never expected to have this many users or this level of volume so quickly.

We have an agreement in place with a new provider and we expect that we will be able to resume services within two months. We have learned many valuable lessons from the beta card program and will use the information to design a more robust system for our full product roll out.  

Everyone who has outstanding funds on CoinDebit cards will have the option to be issued a refund or to have the balance transferred to a new card when they are issued. If you select to have the balance transferred to a new card we will be giving you first access to the new CoinDebit physical cards. CoinDebit will issue refunds in bitcoin at the current attractive bitcoin prices.  

In the meantime, we are building a team and seeking funding to sustain the exponential growth and interest that CoinDebit has been receiving.  Anyone who is interested in CoinDebit’s success should reach out to us as soon as possible.

It is our most sincere intention that CoinDebit propagates bitcoin adoption in any way possible and right now we believe our greatest value add is to give people the ability to spend their bitcoin to pay fiat expenses in the most private way possible.
https://www.coindebit.io/announcement

I am locking this topic for now.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
Any idea when will they be available for rest of the world again?
I have nothing from official sources, but I (sort of) explained how it is possible to use CoinDebit cards from other parts of the world if you applied for latest testing.
Let's wait for this beta testing to finish so we can get more feedback from people if everything is working as expected.
Contact people from CoinDebit website to get official information.

legendary
Activity: 1662
Merit: 1050
Good news coming from CoinDebit!
They just released beta for their new virtual cards but they currently work only for territory of United States or with US IP address.
This phase is done for limited number of people who applied for testing phase and they must be approved by CoinDebit team.
Official release of new cards should happen after this testing is finished, and I hope they will expand card support for rest of the world.
Any idea when will they be available for rest of the world again?
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
So that means you need to register an address for it while using a US IP address, right?
You don't need to add your physical address for CoinDebit  virtual cards, but they opened beta applications only for IP address from US, so they might refuse to issue card for you with different IP address.
I would also use separate temporary email for registration instead of regular email address, to reduce any potential leaks in future.

That'll make it like a Walmart card then.
No they won't, this can be used almost anywhere, it's not  a gift card.

Though I am not sure how hard it will be to expand to non-US merchants, considering that worldwide prepaid cards have become quite hard to find nowadays.
I am sure that even now people applied for CoinDebit cards from countries outside US, so they will check if everything works or not during this beta phase.
legendary
Activity: 1568
Merit: 6660
bitcoincleanup.com / bitmixlist.org
Good news coming from CoinDebit!
They just released beta for their new virtual cards but they currently work only for territory of United States or with US IP address.
This phase is done for limited number of people who applied for testing phase and they must be approved by CoinDebit team.
Official release of new cards should happen after this testing is finished, and I hope they will expand card support for rest of the world.

So that means you need to register an address for it while using a US IP address, right?

That'll make it like a Walmart card then.

Though I am not sure how hard it will be to expand to non-US merchants, considering that worldwide prepaid cards have become quite hard to find nowadays.

I've been buying from a lot of different websites with prepaid cards for some time, and my success rate has been about 50/50 for US-only cards. So going worldwide will really increase the chance of successful checkout.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
Good news coming from CoinDebit!
They just released beta for their new virtual cards but they currently work only for territory of United States or with US IP address.
This phase is done for limited number of people who applied for testing phase and they must be approved by CoinDebit team.
Official release of new cards should happen after this testing is finished, and I hope they will expand card support for rest of the world.



legendary
Activity: 1568
Merit: 6660
bitcoincleanup.com / bitmixlist.org
September 05, 2022, 02:43:11 AM
#50
Few days ago CoinDebit announced they are temporarily shutting down their service while they transition to a better prepaid card issuing provider.
They had very big interest during beta card program and they are now working on better system for full product roll out.
Everyone with funds on their card will be able to get full refund in Bitcoin or transfer of funds to new upcoming CoinDebit cards.
https://www.coindebit.io/announcement

Sounds suspicious to me. A lot of projects go into "standby" mode only to die in their sleep. One can only hope it's the opposite case and they truly are working on maintenance.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
September 01, 2022, 09:43:57 AM
#49
Few days ago CoinDebit announced they are temporarily shutting down their service while they transition to a better prepaid card issuing provider.
They had very big interest during beta card program and they are now working on better system for full product roll out.
Everyone with funds on their card will be able to get full refund in Bitcoin or transfer of funds to new upcoming CoinDebit cards.
https://www.coindebit.io/announcement
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
I have tried the virtual one once and I was able to pay for it using Lightning. There were no fees and the exchange rate USD <> BTC was exactly what my LED Bitcoin dashboard (hitbtc.com API) was displaying (negligible difference).
Virtual cards are cool and all, but I am more interested in physical cards that can be reloaded with more bitcoin money and use in more places.
Even with real cards it happens they don't always work, but I would accept that if I don't have to go with all procedure of standard cards.
One more potential use case of this vitual cards could be anonymous e-sim cards from silent.link or some other provider.

As far as I know, at that point it was a video POC and it wasn't production-ready; unfortunately, I can't find it anymore either. Maybe my description sounds familiar to someone who can recall the project name.
Sounds interesting but I never saw any video about service like that, but I generally reduced time I am spending watching videos.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 5834
not your keys, not your coins!
Not sure how CoinDebit virtual cards work because I didn't test it myself, but I know they are not connected with your identity, unless you make a mistake and buy them with BTC from kyc exchange.
I have tried the virtual one once and I was able to pay for it using Lightning. There were no fees and the exchange rate USD <> BTC was exactly what my LED Bitcoin dashboard (hitbtc.com API) was displaying (negligible difference).

However, it was not accepted for an online sports channel subscription (1 month). Either they don't accept debit cards in general, or you need to load it more generously (not like me).
I do think these kinds of one-time debit cards (existed in the past even without crypto; you bought them through your actual credit card) make most sense if you can load them with just the amount needed for a purchase, so that you don't need to use them twice or have a bunch of them with $2 each on them that you can't spend.

One such example that (in a video I saw) was very well integrated was a service that came with a browser extension, which recognized payment pages. Once you landed on a shop's payment page, the extension would create a one-time card with the exact amount needed, and display a Lightning invoice. Once that was paid, the card details were entered into the website automatically, so from a user perspective, you never really 'touched' a credit card number or anything like that, and basically paid in Bitcoin directly.

As far as I know, at that point it was a video POC and it wasn't production-ready; unfortunately, I can't find it anymore either. Maybe my description sounds familiar to someone who can recall the project name.



Again, that only works if the shop or service where you plan to use the card, doesn't require some buffer of extra balance.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
I was thinking maybe we'd have more privacy using FOSS than Google or Apple pay, no?
AuroraStore is just a frontend of GooglePlay that you can use without real gmail account, but this is not so much connected with CoinDebit cards if you use physical cards.
I always prefer payment in cash with fiat money if possible, and with Bitcoin for payments with crypto, but if you want to have more privacy than try to reduce usage of virtual cards tied to your identity.
Not sure how CoinDebit virtual cards work because I didn't test it myself, but I know they are not connected with your identity, unless you make a mistake and buy them with BTC from kyc exchange.
legendary
Activity: 3500
Merit: 6320
Crypto Swap Exchange
Banks have to allow their cards to be used with Apple / Google / Samsung / etc. pay. Beyond that they can also dig into specific devices and model lines.

If you poke around you will see at times that people are complaining when they switch devices that the card that worked with their Samsung phone and watch no longer works with their Apple phone and watch.Or it's still the same phone but they got a new fitibt and it worked with the old one but not the new. Most of the time it's not a big deal, just take another card out of your wallet and use that one. Other times, like this when you want to use a specific card for a reason you are just out of luck.....

-Dave



newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
Hello,

Instead of using Google or Apple Pay, did someone test with a virtual card service from Aurora Appstore?

What exactly do you mean by "Aurora Appstore"? If you actually mean "Aurora Store"[1], i don't see how it solve problem faced by other member. It's just unofficial open source client for Google Play Store. If you need to access paid apps, you need to buy it from Google Play Store and then login to your Google account on Aurora Store[2].

[1] auroraoss.com
[2] https://auroraoss.gitbook.io/docs/troubleshooting-and-faqs/faqs#how-do-i-purchase-paid-apps-without-using-the-play-store-app

Hi, thx for the corrections.

I was thinking maybe we'd have more privacy using FOSS than Google or Apple pay, no?
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
Hello,

Instead of using Google or Apple Pay, did someone test with a virtual card service from Aurora Appstore?
legendary
Activity: 3500
Merit: 6320
Crypto Swap Exchange
...
Is there a way to reload cards with more money somehow?
I heard they are planning to increase limits from $250 to $1000, so that is not bad news at all if it happens.
btw did you pay any fees for transactions and payments?

No to the reload and no to the fees. Outside of the original cost of getting them there have been no issues.

I was using them to get some motorcycle parts from websites that were using a processor that I have had issues with before. But I bought $50 cards for purchases with shipping that came to a bit less. I just wanted the rest of the funds off the cards. Wound up adding them to my 7-11 app and got some overpriced snacks.

-Dave
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
Has anyone been able to add these cards to Google / Apple / Samsung / other pay?
Nope, I am still waiting and I didn't receive mine for testing yet :/

I have gotten a few and now have a dollar or 2 left on them with no easy way to spend it. But since it's trivial to use one of the tap to pay services to partly cover physical payments in a store I figured that would be a good way to burn off the last of the money.
Is there a way to reload cards with more money somehow?
I heard they are planning to increase limits from $250 to $1000, so that is not bad news at all if it happens.
btw did you pay any fees for transactions and payments?
legendary
Activity: 3500
Merit: 6320
Crypto Swap Exchange
Has anyone been able to add these cards to Google / Apple / Samsung / other pay?

I have gotten a few and now have a dollar or 2 left on them with no easy way to spend it. But since it's trivial to use one of the tap to pay services to partly cover physical payments in a store I figured that would be a good way to burn off the last of the money.

It did not work on my setup (One Plus Nord & fitbit) but just about no cards work with that combo for some reason. Keep giving security errors except for Amex.
But that's a rant for the XDA developers board......

-Dave
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
Architecturally, the only way to get a good idea about the path of a payment is if you run a lot of Lightning nodes such that the full path (or portion of it) from a sender to a receiver is covered by your nodes.
I am certain that government and tracking analytics companies are running lightning nodes already, and they are trying to improve LN tracking.
Maybe you heard about Arcane OS that was advertised as Anom phone but secretly operated by government agencies.
You can even find some of those devices today, usually as Google Pixel, but they obviously don't work anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA1KS-xh0n0

Regarding your question about withdrawing your funds from card back to the Bitcoin wallet, I really doubt that is possible as from what I understand, CoinDebit is a prepaid card.
Even if this was possible, it would probably be custodial wallet so you wouldn't have full control, and they would have to charge extra fees for that.
It's not impossible, but I don't think this will happen for CoinDebit cards.



Interesting news for CoinDebit VIRTUAL card is that it can be now used anywhere in the world that accepts Visa cards, but we need to wait for physical cards to be available.

hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 5834
not your keys, not your coins!
Regarding this aspect, it would be great to know if it's possible to send back funds from the card to your Bitcoin wallet. For example, if the merchant didn't recognize the card.
This has always been my issue with debit cards; if the payment doesn't go through, you're stuck with a ton of money on that card and no way to instantly move it to another card, back to your bank account or Bitcoin wallet.
From my experience with other crypto debit card, in case of rejected transaction you just have to try it again and it usually goes through so its not a big problem. Regarding your question about withdrawing your funds from card back to the Bitcoin wallet, I really doubt that is possible as from what I understand, CoinDebit is a prepaid card.
Why shouldn't it be possible? I had a prepaid card in the past that you could charge through bank transfer in the EU and it was possible to send balance from the card back to the bank account if needed. It is really helpful; imagine your payment for e.g. some flights is declined and you're stuck with hundreds of $ on said card. Then you need to spend the same amount a second time to charge another card to try again; and spend the balance of the first card on something else. Especially when living in the EU where you basically never pay with credit card, I see this as a big issue of prepaid cards.
legendary
Activity: 1722
Merit: 5937
I can't be 100% sure but according to my investigation I don't think they have any hidden fees, and US customers are very happy with this cards so far.
if they only have 1% fee when loading, that makes it on par Binance card when it comes to fees. Even if they have let's say additional 1-2% transaction fee, that would still be acceptable, at least for me. 


Regarding this aspect, it would be great to know if it's possible to send back funds from the card to your Bitcoin wallet. For example, if the merchant didn't recognize the card.
This has always been my issue with debit cards; if the payment doesn't go through, you're stuck with a ton of money on that card and no way to instantly move it to another card, back to your bank account or Bitcoin wallet.
From my experience with other crypto debit card, in case of rejected transaction you just have to try it again and it usually goes through so its not a big problem. Regarding your question about withdrawing your funds from card back to the Bitcoin wallet, I really doubt that is possible as from what I understand, CoinDebit is a prepaid card.
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