Spectrocoin and Wirex both have a working crypto debit card that allows you to spend your crypto at POS terminals and withdraw it at ATMs.
The scope of provided services is a bit different though – Spectrocoin aims to be a larger ecosystem with their own token (BNK), crypto exchange and unconventional deposit methods.
Wirex, on the other hand, puts stress on their debit card – load crypto or fiat money to your account, exchange it as you wish, spend it or keep it.
Let’s see how the two platforms compare for those who need a Bitcoin/altcoin debit card.
| Spectrocoin | Wirex | |
| Interface | web | Web & app |
| Supported countries | EEA + more (no USA) | EEA |
| Deposit methods | Cards, SEPA, Banks, Sofort banking,Neteller, Perfect Money, Payeer, Skrill, Qiwi Romania, Foxbox & Maxima – Lithuania, Lietuvos Pastas, Perlo Paslaugas | Bank, credit card, crypto |
| Deposit fees | 5.5% for cards, 2% for banks, varied fees for other methods | free |
| Withdrawal methods | Regional post offices, SEPA, Skrill, Payeer. | Bank, credit card, crypto |
| Withdrawal fees | 5% for post offices, 0% Perfect Money, 2% Skrill, 5% Payeer. | free |
| Account management fee | $1/mo | £1.00/mo |
| Plastic card cost | $50.00 | free |
| Card load via wallet | 1.00% | free |
| Currency exchange | 3.00% | free |
| ATM withdrawal fee | $2.50 | $2.5-3.5 |
| ATM limit | $1500/day | $250/day |
| POS purchase limit | unlimited | unlimited |
| POS transaction fees | $0.25 | |
| Maximum card balance | €2,500 in standard, unlimited in VIP | $10000 |
| Card type | Visa | |
| Supported currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, XAU, PLN | USD, GBP. EUR |
| Supported cryptocurrencies | BTC, DASH, ETH, BNK, XEM | BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC |
| KYC | mandatory for card issuance, not necessary for wallet usage | mandatory for card issuance, not necessary for wallet usage |
| Cashback | none | 0.5% of all POS transactions |
Spectrocoin vs Wirex comparison explanation
Spectrocoin definitely offers more ways of topping up your account – there are not only the conventional credit card and bank account, but also local post offices and online payments systems such as Skrill, Neteller, Perfect money and Payeer.
If you do not spend enough time calculating your Spectrocoin activities, you will be bombarded with fees – first a 5% deposit fee, then a 1% fee exchanging currencies (if you want to diversify your portfolio), then 1% fee to load your funds to the card, then ATM and POS payment fees… Ironically, even crypto withdrawals are laced with suspiciously high (and artificially set) “network fees”, which is a problem. Spectrocoin is definitely a money-making machine, for its’ owners that is.
One of the few Spectrocoin advantages is that the VIP card gives you higher limits for withdrawal. If you plan to convert a ton of crypto to cash on a regular basis and don’t care about the fees then Spectrocoin might be your option.
Spectrocoin is still your #1 choice if you wish to spend DASH coin directly, for they provide the only DASH debit card at the moment.
Wirex, however, is your best choice for regular everyday spending of your cryptocurrency. Their low fees, the cryptoback feature that gets you 0.5% of crypto spent at POS terminals back to your account, the seamless app – all make for a great crypto-based wallet & prepaid card that you can use on a day-to-day basis.
Spectrocoin vs Wirex verdict:
Spectrocoin: use if you need a large volume of cash withdrawals and do not care much about the fees.
Sign up here
Wirex: use this platform if you are interested in seamless day-to-day spending of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies. Take advantage of the unique cryptoback feature.
[…] apps have similar services but most just rip you off in fees, e.g. see our Spectrocoin vs. Wirex or Revolut vs. Wirex comparison […]