Crypto.com Card Review 2021 — Is it worth it? What you need to Know.
My experience using a Crypto-based card — Breaking down the benefits, rewards, and hidden costs to use and pay with a CRO Visa card.
In September, we signed up for a crypto.com account and a crypto.com visa card. We tried out the Crypto.com card for about 2 months and today we are going to share with you what we think of it.
If you have no time, you can also view the video version of this review.
Overview of Crypto.com
Previously we talked about our first impression of Crypto.com here. As a recap, Crypto.com App is a cryptocurrency exchange that supports trading, investing, staking, wallets, NFTs, and more.
In this article, we are going to cover more details on Crypto.com Visa Card which is one of the many financial products that is offered by Crypto.com.
- Quick overview of Crypto.com cards, requirements & how to apply for the card
- How easy is it to use Crypto.com card such as how widely accepted the card is, the card benefits
- Lastly any fees or hidden costs to use the card.
What is Crypto.com Visa Card?
The Crypto.com Visa Card is a prepaid card. Broadly speaking, prepaid cards are similar to debit cards.
The difference is that debit cards are linked to your bank account, but prepaid cards are not. Prepaid cards instead need to be topped up before we can use it.
For Crypto.com Visa Card, you can top up using bank account transfers, other credit/debit cards, or cryptocurrency.
3 Steps to get a Crypto.com Visa Card
Step 1: First, You’ll need to set up an account with Crypto.com. Get a Crypto.com Account and complete their KYC (know your customer) verification
Step 2: The next step is to purchase CRO tokens, the native token of Crypto.com. You can buy it using fiat money, credit or debit cards, or purchase it using other cryptocurrencies.
Step 3: Next, you can head to the ‘Card’ tab in the App and choose your desired Crypto.com Visa Card, tap the ‘Stake CRO’ button, and follow the instructions with more details.
Depending on which card tier that you want to apply for, you’ll need to stake a minimum amount of CRO tokens for a period of 180 days. So make sure that you are not using any money that you’ll need in the short term.
You’ll have to do all 3 steps in sequence to ensure that you’ll get your card. The first card is free regardless of which card tier you apply for. Subsequent cards would require a fee.
Delivery Time
It takes about one to two weeks to receive your CRO card. Once you have follow the above steps correctly.
Types & Tiers of Crypto.com cards
There are different tiers for Crypto.com cards and it is determined by how much CRO token you stake.
The basic card starts from a midnight blue card that does not require any CRO stake but has limited benefits. And then you have the highest tier card, the Obsidian card which needs a minimum of US$400,000 CRO staked.
The higher tier cards get more benefits Infinitysuch as cashback on Spotify, Netflix, Card Spending, etc.
For the most premium Obsidian card, you’ll get 8% on some of your Crypto.com Visa Card purchases.
I think a Royal Indigo & Jade green card would work best because a 3% CRO cashback with a CRO stake of US$4,000 or SGD5,000 is comparable to many banks in Singapore.
Do take note that while the value staked is in fiat currency, the actual stake is in CRO coin which means that you would be subjected to the volatility of cryptocurrencies. So it is certainly possible that the CRO coins you get back at the end of the 6 months stake would be of different value. It could be worth more or worth less than the initial amount.
Usage of the Crypto.com card and how widely accepted is the card
Before you start using it, you’ll need to first Top Up the card.
Top Up Crypto.com Card & CRO Cashback on Spend
Ways that I could top up my card was either using a Crypto wallet, credit, or debit card. I think for cards issued in other countries you might have more options to top up using bank transfers.
Once you top up your crypto.com card, you’ll be able to start spending!
I was able to use the card for groceries and transport. Each time, the CRO cashback is credited instantaneously into my Crypto.com account.
Paying for Spotify Using Crypto.com Card
The only issue I had was to pay for Spotify. Customers from Singapore are unable to pay for Spotify with the Crypto.com card. So in order to get CRO cashback, you will have to do this manually by informing their customer service. They would ask for proof of payment for Spotify and then they would reimburse the CRO cashback to you.
It took about a month or so before they were able to process this for us. But we got the Spotify CRO cashback all at a go since there was a backlog in Crypto.com service. I think there are more and more people using Crypto.com that they are facing more backlogs and trying to keep up with the demand.
Foreign Exchange Rates
Crypto.com card also offers attractive foreign currency exchange rates. I was checking it out as we are in Europe right now. The rates are sometimes better than wise and revolut. However, the catch is that when you top up the card with credit card you’ll have to pay a 1% fee for Singaproe and for those in the US it is 2.99%. There’s also fees for inactivity if you don’t use the card for more than 12 months.
I’ve also found that their spot exchange rates for cryptocurrencies are also higher than other exchanges. So do take note and do some calculations on the fees. The only way I think to avoid the fees is to top up with a debit card.
You can check out more information on the fees and limits via settings in Crypto.com App.
Using Crypto.com in Europe
So if you are wondering if I’ve tried using the card in Europe, I did. But my Singapore-issued Crypto.com Card unfortunately doesn’t work. I tried paying for groceries and transport in Germany and both times it got declined.
Crypto.com knows it and is in the midst of fixing it. So far, I have no idea when would this be fixed.
Final Thoughts
In summary, Crypto.com visa card is a hit and miss when it comes to spending.
We were able to use it quite easily in Singapore such as buying groceries and travelling via the public transport. I also like that while you can’t use the card to pay for Spotify, Crypto.com still honours the 100% CRO cashback. And for the other spending cashback, it is reflected almost immediately on the app. I have not tried paying for other online shopping purchases so I’m unsure whether it would work or is it something that is confined with Spotify.
With regards to topping up the Crypto.com visa card, I’ve tried using a Singapore credit card to top up but it was declined by the bank. I had to call in the bank to allow the transaction. Furthermore, the bank took a day before coming back to allow me to use the card to top up.
I also thought that we could top-card the card using CRO coins so that it could become the circle of life.
Pay Spotify and Netflix with Crypto.com visa card, get 100% CRO cashback, then top up the card using CRO and so on. But nope, they don’t allow top-ups using CRO coins for their visa card. and understandably so.
The miss for me was that one of the key benefits of Crypto.com card was their attractive overseas currencies exchange rates for fiat currencies. This is useless until they can fix their card transactions being declined.
If you are keen on Crypto.com and join us in our journey, sign up using this link and use referral code nowrealise.
You’ll get $25 once you complete your sign-up and stake for a Ruby tier card.
