VISA has stopped supporting certain cryptocurrency-backed debit cards after stating that certain card issuers violated their operation policies.
Last week, the card payment giant, VISA, announced that they have ended their relationship with a prominent European cryptocurrency debit card issuer. This decision has left thousands of users in the lurch as card payments were suddenly declined, and users were unable to conveniently access their crypto holdings.
According to the affected card provider, WaveCrest, the end of the relationship with VISA forced them to immediately shut down all their cards.
WaveCrest released an official statement which noted that the license e-money firm, is under obligation to safeguard and cover all funds processed through their system. The statement added that users are able to redeem their crypto holdings using alternative methods.
According to a statement released by VISA, they decided to terminate its relationship with the prepaid debit card issuer, WaveCrest after the firm violated certain operational policies as outlined by VISA. Following the termination, WaveCrest was required to immediately close down all their issued VISA-based products, the majority of which, were prepaid debit cards that were linked to cryptocurrency wallets.
WaveCrest extended its services to a number of prominent companies which provide crypto-card services, including TenX, Bitwala, Wirex, and, Cryptopay. The above-mentioned companies render services which include converting cryptocurrency to fiat currencies instantly and loading it as ready-to-use cash on a user’s debit card. These services have granted some much-longed-for utility in the crypto community as users could conveniently access and spend their funds.
However, all WaveCrest cards have since become invalid.
According to the co-founder of Wirex, a prominent crypto card company, Dmitry Lazarichev, the company has received thousands of phone calls from upset clients. Lazarichev added that Wirex has issued around 500,000 cryptocurrency debit cards to date to clients all over the world, not including United States-based users.
Lazarichev lamented not only the decision and its instantaneous effects but also the way in which WaveCrest has responded to the calamity. According to Lazarichev, WaveCrest has simply not responded efficiently to inquiries regarding the situation and has so far not given their clients any further information on how they intend to address the problem.
Another crypto card company, TenX, has been trying to reassure their customers, via Twitter.
#TenX advisory: Following an urgent communication from our card issuer WaveCrest, payments on the TenX card will be unavailable. We are working on a solution and will let you know further details as soon as we have them. We apologise for the inconvenience.
— TenX (@tenxwallet) January 5, 2018
However, affected cardholders also took to Twitter to ask questions, which perhaps highlighted how disastrous the effects of the terminated relationship are.
All cards? Even for European customers? Mine stopped working, and I need the money, as I am on vacation and my hotel just canceled my booking because of that. What is the problem? Where is the original announcement?
— Daily^W Yearly Startup Idea (@IdeasAreMany) January 5, 2018
The above user, known as Alexander T. has since revealed that he generally uses his cryptocurrency debit card for every-day purchases such as buying groceries and booking hotels. At the time of the Tweet, he was traveling from Spain to Switzerland. He realized the issue with his card after it was declined in a bar.
Alexander underlined the concerns of many users when he stated that his main fear is that he’ll lose his cryptocurrency holdings that he transferred to his debit card. In addition, there is the fear that bitcoin users soon won’t have any more channels of using their cryptocurrency holdings in everyday life.
While WaveCrest is yet to announce a solution for the problem, thousands are users have been left scrambling for funds, as the utility of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies became even more undermined.
