Wirex Debit Card Review
The brands listed on this site are carefully researched, and we may earn fees from some. However, our recommendations are driven by our independent opinions. The information provided on this site is for educational purposes only and we strongly encourage you to do your own research before making any decisions.
In this Wirex review you will find general information about the company, supported countries, supported currencies, benefits and fees.
Wirex is a crypto oriented company that is specialised in providing:
- crypto backed debit mastercards
- payment solutions
- easy exchange between fiat and crypto and vice versa
You can manage all of this conveniently using the Wirex app. However not all countries are supported. Additionally some countries do not have the full range of services available. That includes the UK and US. For a full list of supported services and countries please scroll further down.
Wirex Overview
Wirex has offices around the world and is an internationally regulated company. It is a licenced FinTech company based in the United Kingdom.
They have raised funds several times in the past to build the business. The process of raising funds went well and the team have brought the company forward. In fact Wirex has had spectacular growth and turned a good profit according to GetLatka. So they are not going anywhere any time soon.
Wirex established itself early on in the cryptocurrency space in 2014. As a result of being one of the first movers in the space it has achieved quite a few significant milestones.
It was one of the first companies offering cryptocurrency cards. Additionally it was the first card company to support Litecoin on its platform. It was also the first Mastercard crypto-friendly enterprise.
Since Wirex has been around for a while, its staff members have had time to develop and improve the company. Overall Wirex offers a great product with fairly good customer service. Moreover they have a competitive fee structure and provide rewards to their customers.
Wirex Review: How it Works
Wirex is an application that you can download on your mobile phone. It works like any standard online bank account. It allows you to use traditional currencies and cryptocurrencies on demand wherever you are in the world in a seamless way.
Wirex support both retail clients and businesses. It allows their clients the flexibility to spend their funds at over 40 million merchants worldwide.
In this Wirex review section of how it works we will cover signing up and how the Mastercard works.
Signing Up
Registering your account is easy. After downloading you will be prompted to register and enter your full name, email and create a password. You will need to follow the prompts provided by the app to verify and activate your email and phone number.
Once you signed up, you will need to order a Mastercard through the app. The card is free if delivered in the UK and will be delivered with a week. However you will be charged if you would like expedited delivery or you are located in another country. If you require expedited delivery will need to pay a for DHL express delivery fee which is £6.99 or €7.99.
Once you receive the card you will need to jump onto the app to activate it.
Mastercard
Previously Wirex teamed up with Visa to provide their crypto cards. You would have needed to make an exchange and make sure you had money in your fiat account to pay.
After some years Wirex ditched Visa for Mastercard which makes things much more convenient. You can link any one of your funded crypto accounts through the app like for example Bitcoin or Ether etc. When you make a payment online or in store the card automatically makes the exchange for you. You do not need to lift a finger.
Currencies Supported
Fiat currencies
- Euro (EUR)
- British pound (GBP)
- US dollar (USD)
- Canadian dollar (CAD)
- Czech koruna (CZK)
- Croatian kuna (HRK)
- Hungarian forint (HUF)
- Polish zloty (PLN)
- Romanian leu (RON)
Digital currencies
Up until last year Wirex had around 28 supported cryptocurrencies at some point. Now that number has gone up to 42. They keep working at adding more cryptos to their list of supported coins.
Additionally they are adding coins at a good pace. They are focusing on the most popular coins from different sectors in the crypto space.
That of course includes the most popular cryptocurrencies like for example Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP, Cardano and Dogecoin.
There are also several stablecoins, like for example Dai, Tether and USD Coin. Innovators like Tezos, Polkadot, EOS, Solana, Axie and Wirex tokens. DeFi tokens like Aave, Balancer, Chainlink, Compound and SushiSwap. Lastly there are Metaverse cryptos like Decentraland and The Sandbox.
Supported Countries
While compiling this Wirex review we noticed that Wirex supports over 130 countries. It is continually striving to add more jurisdictions to its list. However not all countries have support for all their services.
For example United States citizens have access to Wirex accounts and crypto accounts. However they do not have access to x-accounts, cards and are not able to do local card top ups. The UK does not have access to x-accounts and are not able to do local card top ups.
Apart from supporting new countries Wirex are aiming to expand their services to countries that are currently supported. It will take some time until they are able to operate worldwide. This is because Wirex has to undergo rigorous regulatory procedures.
So although some countries or services are not yet supported they will be in due course. If you would like to see which services are supported in your country you can click here.
Wirex Review: Customer Support
Overall most Wirex customers are happy with Wirex. They sing their praises because both the application and cards work great. Wirex it is a real plus for anyone that wants to easily spend crypto.
However Wirex have an average score when it comes to reviews. This is mainly because there are a lot of customers that complain about accounts that suddenly got blocked. They got no warning whatsoever from Wirex.
Moreover to make matters worse their customer service falls short when handling these cases. They tend to drag on for a long time before the issue gets resolved. In fact there was an article about it on Fintech Futures. It all boils down to Wirex having a large influx of new customers and they cannot keep up!
However some time has passed since that article, but some things remain the same. When all else fails clients post complaints publicly online and Wirex are prompt to respond.
Additionally they admit their mistakes whether it was a misunderstanding or because the customer had an unpleasant experience. They are apologetic and polite. This is an overall good sign that the company cares about its reputation and customers.
Unfortunately there are quite a portion of people that end up in this situation. However since Wirex has many millions of customers this is only a small fraction of their clientele.
Most customers don’t write reviews. Mostly its people that are unhappy that write public reviews because they desperately need something done. So this skews the rating. Overall most customers are happy with Wirex and are happy with what the company has to offer.
Wirex Review: Security
Wirex are pretty robust and have taken many steps to secure client accounts. So far they have a great track record and they never been hacked.
Some of the steps they have taken for securing client funds are segregating funds, cold storing cryptocurrency and 2-factor authentication (2FA).
When you cold store cryptocurrency you are using the best form of protection. Only a fraction of clients funds are used on a daily basis, most funds remain idle in wallets. As a result most of the funds get placed into cold storage.
Wirex also have 2FA which is fairly standard practice within the industry. However they also support security keys. Which is fantastic for those that feel they would like to benefit from the additional security.
Moreover Wirex have other methods of securing client funds. If you would like to learn more about the security procedures you can have a look here.
Just one thing you should note. Although Wirex is fully licensed and regulated there is no deposit insurance or protection scheme that apply. This is because Wirex is a e-money service. As a result we recommend that you only place a small amount of money on Wirex. You can top both fiat and crypto up as you go.
So with crypto we recommend you use a hardware wallet and transfer to Wirex as you need. On the other hand if your traditional bank has deposit insurance you should leave most of your fiat there.
History
Wirex was one of the first cryptocurrency card companies to come onto the market. They have been around since 2014 when it was originally registered as E-Coin.
It has offices around the world. Their offices are in: Atlanta, Kiev, London, Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto. Wirex managed to successfully raise funds in different ways to allow it to set up or expand its operations.
Wirex Review: Fees
There are 3 different plans to can sign up for when you register your account.
For the paid subscription accounts you have a choice to pay monthly or yearly. You can save some money by opting to pay yearly.
However we suggest you try out Wirex for free first to see if you like it. You can always upgrade your account later if you want to get extra benefits.
| STANDARD | PREMIUM | ELITE |
| €0/month | €9.99/month or €102/year | €29.99/month or €306/year |
| 2% annual Savings Bonus on WXT balance | 12% annual Savings Bonus on WXT balance | |
| 0.5% CryptobackTM (in store) | 1% CryptobackTM (in store and online) | 2% CryptobackTM (in store and online) |
| Merchant offers | Merchant offers | Curated merchant offers |
Additionally with every pricing plan you also get:
- A free Wirex card. However you may need to pay for delivery should you require expedited delivery. This would apply should you choose to have expedited delivery within the UK. Card deliveries to other countries will also require expedited delivery.
- Unlimited crypto transfers externally.
- No fees charged for ATM withdrawals up to €400 per month. A 2% charge will apply should you exceed this maximum amount.
- You can always choose to upgrade at a later stage should you prefer. You also have a 90 day break clause if you pay on an annual basis on a paid plan.
Get Rewards
Each pricing plan unlocks different reward programs. The rewards available are:
CryptobackTM
Get rewarded up to 2% back in Wirex tokens whenever you spend using your Wirex card on every purchase. Your rewards are instantly paid into a designated rewards account in the app. You can HODL Wirex tokens or exchange them whenever you like.
Savings Bonus
Wirex is applying the traditional banking model of savings onto client accounts. This applies to those that are subscribed to the Premium or Elite plan.
If you are on the Premium plan, you can earn 2% per annum. Those on the Elite plan can earn up to 6% per annum. You will be able to earn the savings bonus on your WXT account. The percentage bonus is calculated on the balance of your account.
Mastercard Offers
You will be able to benefit from exclusive discounts and rewards on selected products and services. Wirex continually update the deals they have on their website to make sure you can benefit from the offers.
Elite plan subscribers are eligible for better offers than other plans. They get curated offers from merchant partners.
Wirex Review Conclusion
To conclude this Wirex review we believe Wirex has proved itself as one of the best companies offering crypto cards. Since it has been around for a while in crypto it has built a fairly good reputation for itself. It stands up well against competitors such as crypto.com cards and Advcash crypyto cards.
Unfortunately at times it has found it difficult to keep up with the sheer volume of new clients signing up. As a result because its compliance team has to manually go through documents they have found it hard to keep up.
In fact this has reflected in their overall score online on Trustpilot. However they do follow up with customers quite promptly and try to resolve their issues.
As a result we recommend that you only place a small amount of money on Wirex. You can top up as you go. However this advice goes for all crypto companies because you want to reduce your third party liability.
Additionally this is because although Wirex is regulated, they are an e-wallet service. Which means they are not covered by deposit insurance schemes.
The paid plans can be expensive. However if you will be spending more than what you pay monthly for the card then it is definitely worthwhile. Alternatively you can stick to their free plan.
Overall Wirex provides a great service and rewards its clients for their loyalty. Wirex have truly made holding both traditional fiat and crypto easy and practical to use. Moreover Wirex made the switch between the two seamless.
