Bitcoin Exchange BTC-e to Allow Fund Withdrawals to VISA or MasterCard

Bitcoin Exchange BTC-e to Allow Fund Withdrawals to VISA or MasterCard

 BTC-e, a popular Bulgaria-based Bitcoin exchange, announced on Friday that it will allow users to withdraw funds to VISA or MasterCard credit/debit cards. BTC-e says on its website,

“We are pleased to announce that for your convenience, we have implemented a new payout system that allows you to send your funds to any cards VISA / MasterCard issued in any country and in any currency.”

Details of the Payout in BTC-e

Even though users can withdraw to any country and currency, the exchange says that every transaction will be in American dollars. This means that even if a user’s card doesn’t accept USD, the withdrawals will be converted in accordance to the VISA/MasterCard’s rate or the bank’s.

BTC-E says that it takes around 2-4 business days for funds to be delivered to any card. However, MasterCard Maestro, VISA Electron, and PayPal cards have no support by their payout system. This means these cards will be unable to work with BTC-e’s new feature. The Bulgarian Bitcoin exchange says,

“On some cards withdrawal is not possible, this is due to the restrictions polices of some banks. For example: you cannot withdraw money through our exchange on the cards issued by PayPal.”

That certainly makes sense since there are various limitations with banks. In addition to this, BTC-e further explains that,

“Some credit cards that does not allow to have a positive balance cannot be funded. If payout to your card is not possible, then we will immediately notify you and refund the money back to your account.”

5% Withdrawal Fee

It’s good that the exchange will refund one’s money if the payout to a specific card isn’t possible. It is also a pretty convenient and useful withdrawal method. However, BTC-e says that it will charge a 5% fee if one wishes to use this new withdrawal method.

In response to this, a user on Reddit wrote, “This is actually amazing.” Contrastingly, another user says, “Haha wow only a 5% fee, what a bargain.” This comment was made in a seemingly sarcastic tone.

Overall, this is indeed a good initiative; however, the 5% fee might hold back some users from implementing this new feature on BTC-e.

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