Shakepay and Xapo, the two companies pushing cryptocurrency debit cards, are running into problems with Visa, which has reportedly told them to stop offering services to customers who don’t live in the European Union.
According to a report, the two companies have until Oct. 15 to halt the services for customers who don’t live in the EU borders. In a blog post Shakepay issued a statement about the matter saying: “Our partner bank is being nudged by Visa to immediately stop issuing cards to residents living outside of the European Territory…, All top ups and card loads will remain operational until October 15th, 2017. You will not be able to issue a new card, however. It is also recommended that you spend all available balances on your card by the deadline…. For those getting their accounts deactivated soon, we still love ya. It’s not you, it‘s us. But we won’t let you go that easily. We anticipated this would happen. Expect some awesome things from Shakepay in the next few months.” Meanwhile Xapo also weighed in on its own blog confirming Visa’s move and saying, “Only customers in the European territory will be able to order new Xapo debit cards, effective today. In addition, Xapo must suspend service on all existing Debit Cards for users who live outside of the European territory by October 15th, 2017.”
According to the report, it’s not clear while Visa gave the two companies that deadline but noted that competitors will probably step up to fill any void outside of the European Union as a result of this action. One thing is clear, noted the report, cryptocurrency debit cards are here to stay and will probably grow in terms of adoption rates. What’s more, with competition likely to pick up, there will be more players in this new form of payment method.
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