Wirex Review

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Bottom line:

Wirex is a good multi-currency travel card to transfer and spend crypto and fiat currencies using a single app and card. The card supports 10 cryptocurrencies and 16 traditional fiat currencies with zero foreign exchange fees. It provides a hassle-free way to spend crypto in more than 130 countries worldwide, however, the fees to top up the card are quite expensive at 1% per transfer. Also, feedback from existing customers on the card and customer service is poor with a 2.9/5 star rating from 10,520 votes on TrustPilot.

How We Rated Wirex

Review Criteria	Hedge With Crypto Rating
Features	4.8 / 5
Supported Fiat and Deposit Methods	4.2 / 5
Supported Crypto & Trading Pairs	3.2 / 5
Fees	4.8 / 5
Ease of Use	4.3 / 5
Customer support	3.5 / 5
Security Measures	4.8 / 5
Mobile App	4.8 / 5

Wirex At A Glance

Wirex is a well-established mobile application and crypto debit card that allows users located all over the world to easily and seamlessly send, receive, trade and spend digital assets. The company was the first to launch a VISA-backed crypto card and is now partnered with Mastercard to offer a multi-currency card. 

The Wirex Card is one of the few debit cards in the world that can be used to spend on cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum) and traditional fiat currency (e.g. USD, GBP, EUR) interchangeably for everyday living expenses. Some of the notable features of Wirex Card include:

• An innovative mobile app, crypto exchange, and debit card
• Send, receive, exchange, and spend 16 fiat currencies and 10 digital assets using a single card
• No foreign exchange fees
• Variety of deposit options to add-funds
• 2% crypto cashback on purchases

Product Name	Wirex
Fiat Currency	16
Cryptocurrency	10
Deposit Options	Credit card, debit card, bank transfer
Card Maintenance Fee	None
Card Payment Fee	None
Card Top-Up Fee	Crypto: 1%, Bank transfer: None
Minimum Transaction Amount	None
ATM Withdrawal Fee	2% fee > 400 GBP/EUR per month
Mobile App	Yes

Who Owns Wirex?

Wirex was founded in 2014 by Pavel Mateev and Dmitry Lazarichev who have over 15 years of experience in financial services with past employment with Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Credit Suisse and Solid Bank. The pair aim to make digital money more accessible to everyday people and developed a mobile payment system that offers fast and secure transactions using digital and traditional currencies.

Review of the Top Features on Wirex

Designed For Everyone

Wirex's products and services have been developed with a simple, yet user-friendly design on its website and Wirex App. Users can effortlessly manage, monitor and track their finances and spending using a highly intuitive user interface that is fully customizable with in-app alerts and notifications. 

Spend Crypto Worldwide

Wirex App and crypto-backed debit card are the perfect companion for individuals that love to travel. With support for 16 fiat currencies and 10 digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, cardholders have the flexibility to choose a preferred currency to pay for shopping or withdraw cash from thousands of ATMs located worldwide.

Supported Cryptocurrencies

The multicurrency Wirex Card is one of the few debit cards on the market that allows individuals to spend traditional fiat currencies and digital assets. Cardholders can transfer popular cryptocurrencies to spend such as BTC, LTC, XRP, ETH, WAVES, DAI, NANO and XLM. The card does not accept stablecoins and should be considered.

There are 10 supported fiat currencies which include the USD, EUR, GBP, CZK, HUF, PLN, RON and HRK. Each currency loaded to the card is automatically converted in real-time with zero-exchange fees to the local currency used at the point-of-sale machine where the purchase was made. 

No Foreign Exchange Fees

The Wirex multi-currency debit card can store both cryptocurrencies and traditional money such as the USD, GBP and EUR. Cardholders that pay for goods and services internationally at any VISA and Mastercard merchant using the card will automatically convert the balance on the card to the country's local currency. This means zero foreign conversion costs, and bank charges when spending abroad.

Earn Cashback Rewards

Spending hard-earned cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin can be a difficult decision given the appreciating nature of the asset class in recent years. Using crypto to pay for goods and services is one way to cash out of Bitcoin instead of converting to fiat currency using a trading platform. The Wirex card incentivizes its users to transfer crypto to its debit card to spend and earn a cashback bonus of up to 2%, paid in crypto which is debited to the wallet immediately. Cashback apps and cards are an excellent way to earn crypto for free.

Is Wirex Regulated?

Wirex is an authorized platform that is licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and adheres to the strict policies and rules set out by the FCA for the protection of its client's money. Similarly, Wirex is mandated under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to operate in the US and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (“FINTRAC”) to ensure a transparent, safe and secure environment is provided for its users worldwide.

Getting Started

Users who are over the age of 18 years old can open an account with Wirex using the website or mobile app on iOS or Android-supported devices. New customers must complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) process as per the country's laws and regulations and will be prompted to provide a valid email address, mobile phone number, personal details, Government or state-issued ID, driver’s license, passport or passport card. 

The verification process can be undertaken using the website or mobile app and takes less than 24 hours for approval.

Deposits & Limits

Once a Wirex account has been created and verified, users can fund their wallet with a credit card, debit card or cryptocurrency transfer. The fastest and easiest way to top-up an account with a supported fiat currency is to link a local bank card with 3D Secure. Alternatively, an external bank account can be linked to the wallet to deposit funds. The Wirex user will need to input the SWIFT/BIC number, IBAN and bank address details.

There are a few important bank card limits to be aware of when depositing funds into the Wirex App.

Limit	Amount (USD)
Minimum transaction amount	None
Maximum transaction amount	$50,000
Maximum daily limit	$5,000
Maximum number of transactions per 24 hours	None

For cryptocurrency deposits, up to 10 coins can be transferred to fund a Wirex wallet. For example, to add Bitcoin to a Wirex account, the user will need to transmit crypto using the QR code or send funds to the unique deposit address. The transfer speed depends on the coin and network congestion at the time of the transaction request.

Using The Exchange

The Wirex digital platform provides access to Over-The-Counter (OTC) and interbank rates for crypto and traditional currency exchanges. Users can swap fiat-to-fiat, crypto-to-crypto, fiat-to-crypto and back to fiat currency using the Wirex Exchange feature. The OTC desk allows the platform to obtain the best market rates for crypto conversions outside of centralized cryptocurrency trading platforms such as Coinbase, Kraken and Binance.

Similarly, users that convert fiat currency to another (e.g. USD to EUR) using the Wirex App can obtain a better overall conversion price using an interbank rate. These rates are used by large banks and financial institutions for large-scale foreign exchange transactions and can have tighter spreads compared to smaller retail FX exchange companies. 

Earn Cashback Rewards

Wirex debit card offers up to 2% cashback on purchases that are made in-store or online at any location where VISA and Mastercard are accepted, starting at a flat 0.5%. The cashback bonus amount can be increased by holding Wirex's native token, WXT. For example, an individual with 100,000 WXT tokens in their wallet can earn a 1% cashback on all purchases using the Wirex Card.

Cashback Bonus	WXT Tokens
1.5%	500,000 WXT
1%	100,000 WXT
0.75%	50,000 WXT
0.5%	None

Cardholders that spend cryptocurrency held on the card will be rewarded with a bonus that is paid in the platform's native token WXT, not the cryptocurrency that was used to make the purchase. This may not be ideal for users that want to earn cashback on the digital asset stored on the card and will need to transfer the tokens to a cryptocurrency trading platform to sell back to Bitcoin, Ethereum, or another asset.

Plans & Pricing

Wirex offers 3 plans to allow everyone to benefit from the innovative payment app and multicurrency Wirex debit card: 

• Standard plan (Free)
• Premium Plan (Paid)
• Elite Plan (Paid)

The free plan allows everyone accesses to the full suite features such as the multicurrency account, crypto wallet, fiat-to-fiat exchange and the Wirex debit card that can be loaded with fiat currency or crypto. The Premium and Elite plans include the same features as the Free Plan with additional benefits. The paid subscriptions can be paid on a monthly or yearly basis in WXT tokens.

The Wirex paid plans include the same features as the free plan, however, come with a few additional perks and extras which may suit certain individuals that travel frequently or high-volume spenders. The benefits include:

• Up to 12% annual savings bonuses on WXT balances
• Up to 2% crypto cashback rewards on purchases
• Access to special offers from merchants

The cost of the Premium plan is 1,000 WXT per month and Elite is 3,000 WXT per month. At the time of writing is the equivalent of USD 0.01, which equates to $10 and $30 respectively for the upgrade plans.

Fees

There are several fees associated using Wirex's products and services which include crypto top-ups, ATM withdrawals and balance queries. To view the full list of Wirex fees and limits, visit the website.

Wirex App Fees

There are no fees to use the Wirex App to send and receive money via SEPA.

Fee Description	Cost
Sending and receiving money via SEPA	None
Sending money in EUR via SEPA	None

Wirex Card Fees

Wirex is one of a few digital asset payment companies that offer the issuing of a crypto debit card for free. There is a card account maintenance fee of €1.20 per month to maintain the card. Notable fees associated with the Wirex card are the debit card payment fee of 3% of the total transaction below using the Euro, or €2.25 per transaction with other supported currencies.

Fee Description	Fee
Issuing of card	None
Card account maintenance	None
Debit card payment in EUR	3% of the transaction value
Debit card payment in other currency	€2.25 per transaction
Cash withdrawal in Europe (EUR)	€2.25 plus 3% of the withdrawal value
Cash withdrawal in foreign currency outside Europe	€0.06 per withdrawal
ATM balance query	€0.23 per request

Deposit & Top-Up Fees

Existing cardholders can deposit funds to top up their wallet balances. The cheapest way to add funds to a Wirex account is using a bank transfer which does not charge a fee to deposit fiat currency.

To deposit cryptocurrencies to Wirex such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, there is a 1% fee on the total amount. The fee is quite a lot when compared to a crypto exchange such as Binance which offers trading fees of 0.1% per transaction and the standard blockchain network fee of 0.0005 BTC for withdrawals. 

Fee Description	Fee
Crypto top-up by external card	1%
Bank transfers	None

Withdrawal Fees

Wirex users in the UK can withdraw fiat currency from a wallet using a bank transfer via SEPA or Faster Payments which incur no charges. However, for international fiat withdrawals using the SWIFT network, Wirex applies a small fee of USD $15.

For ATM withdrawals using the Wirex multi-currency VISA and Mastercard, there is a fee of 2% once the limit of 400 GBP or EUR is exceeded per month. Compared to other Bitcoin debit cards such as the Binance Card (up to 0.9%), Coinbase Card (2.49%) and the Crypto.com VISA Card (2%), the Wirex ATM withdrawal fee is competitive.

Fee Descrption	Fee
SEPA	None
Faster Payments	None
SWIFT	€13 EUR £12 GBP $15 USD (for CAD, CZK, HUF, PLN, RON, HRK)
ATM Withdrawal	€2.25 plus 3% of the transaction value