BitWala

Do you know if they allow SEPA transfers to/from Kraken?

Since Bitwala provide a Solarisbank account, can Bitwala still be defined EMI?

If so, and the 100.000 EUR protecion by the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) is a real thing, can Bitwala be considered a "safer" EMI because of that?

I don't think they are safe, I'd actually consider them unsafe and very bad because they combine the worst of both worlds - it is something that pretends to be a cool crypto wallet but at the same time it needs to listen to that bank.

If you have fiat there, you can expect much worse KYC / annoying questions than with a real bank.
If you have crypto there, you actually don't have any crypto or any keys, just a promise to deliver crypto.

So my advice avoid at all costs!!!

KJK said:

If you have crypto there, you actually don't have any crypto or any keys, just a promise to deliver crypto.

Bitcoin and Ethereum walles at Bitwala are non custodial, they force you to save private keys and backup words.

Also, Bitwala is an agent of Solarisbank, not an EMI.

I had a bitwala account some years ago... Until the lost their Visa licence.
ccn.com/visa-crackdown-on-bitcoin-and-crypto…-big-impact/

anotherone said:

I had a bitwala account some years ago... Until the lost their Visa licence.

It's been a general crackdown on TenX, Xapo, Coins.ph, Bitwala, BitPay, CryptoPay. Do you, as user, consider the current Mastercard licence less convenient?

Back2Matters said:

Bitcoin and Ethereum walles at Bitwala are non custodial, they force you to save private keys and backup words.

I don't consider that "non custodial". I had a wallet there, sent crypto out and they suspended the account and asked me why I am doing that and what I plan to do.

Similar thing followed a month later when I probably reached some level of theirs (likely 15k) and they again blocked the account asking why I'm withdrawing Bitcoin and what is my source of funds etc.

That is not "non custodial" for me. Non custodial for me is a wallet - hardware such as Trezor, desktop such as Exodus or mobile such as Coinomi.

KJK said:

I don't consider that "non custodial". I had a wallet there, sent crypto out and they suspended the account and asked me why I am doing that and what I plan to do. Similar thing followed a month later when I probably reached some level of theirs (likely 15k) and they again blocked the account asking why I'm withdrawing Bitcoin and what is my source of funds etc.

How long ago did it happen? How did you manage?

KJK said:

That is not "non custodial" for me. Non custodial for me is a wallet - hardware such as Trezor, desktop such as Exodus or mobile such as Coinomi.

Fair point.

Well I got my money from them and then closed the account. So I cannot say they are a scam... but definitely very bad experience.

I must mention that this was the "old" version of Bitwala some time ago, then they had some weird transition phase with two versions and two logins, and now they probably have just one version.

I still expect them to be more aggressive and annoying (in terms of KYC/AML) than both an average bank or a crypto exchange.

KJK said:

I must mention that this was the "old" version of Bitwala some time ago, then they had some weird transition phase with two versions and two logins, and now they probably have just one version.

Yes, only one version now.

KJK said:

I still expect them to be more aggressive and annoying (in terms of KYC/AML) than both an average bank or a crypto exchange.

You're right, the video interview I had on verification some weeks ago has been the most strict I ever had. Something like a 7-minutes police interrogation :)

Everyone has different experiences, but I have been very satisfied with Bitwala services from 1 year. I only change ETH to Fiat and they asked me only for my source of funds and case solved very quickly.

Furthermore, the bitwala card has no currency exchange charges with the interbank rate which makes it very interesting to spend your cryptocurrencies or transfer by sepa more important funds to another EMI or Bank.

@Elve, it is funny to me. All those EMI run after cryptocurrency users. The crypto users are their customers. Without cryptos there would be no business. However, they annoy their customers with KYC/AML.

anotherone said:

@Elve, it is funny to me. All those EMI run after cryptocurrency users. The crypto users are their customers. Without cryptos there would be no business. However, they annoy their customers with KYC/AML.

That's how the game is, just wait until they will start freezing accounts!

Elve said:

Furthermore, the bitwala card has no currency exchange charges with the interbank rate which makes it very interesting to spend your cryptocurrencies or transfer by sepa more important funds to another EMI or Bank.

The applied exchage rate is Mastercard exchange rate, not the "interbank" one, see first FAQ. Anyway the biggest advantage over the competition is the absence of fees on ATM withdrawals.

Back2Matters said:

Do you know if they allow SEPA transfers to/from Kraken?

Hi there, Does anyone know if it is possible and allowed?

Thanks

Gediminas said:

Also, Bitwala is an agent of Solarisbank, not an EMI.

Do you prefer Bitwala or Advcash?

Back2Matters said:

Do you know if they allow SEPA transfers to/from Kraken?

Asked them if I can do SEPA transfer to/from crypto-exchanges, they replied I can do transfer FROM crypto-exchanges (without specifying anything about the TO part).

Nasters said:

Do you prefer Bitwala or Advcash?

I haven't tried Advcash, so hard to say :))

Nasters said:

Do you prefer Bitwala or Advcash?

To do WHAT specifically?