If you are reading this article, you are probably interested in alternative payment methods. You ended up looking at crypto cards and their traditionally lucrative offers, including low fees, international payments and various rewards systems, which inevitably led you to the Binance Card, the crypto card offered by the world’s largest crypto exchange.
As you might already be guessing, there is bad news on the horizon. Binance Card is unavailable in the UK. But don’t worry! We performed detailed research on the topic and are ready to provide you with the best possible alternatives.
In this article, we will briefly discuss the Binance Card and its eligibility in the UK, and then move on to offer some solid alternatives, definitions, ideas, and more!
Is the Binance Card available in the UK?
Unfortunately, the Binance card is currently unavailable in the UK. Due to an ongoing legal battle between Binance and the FCA, many of the functionalities of Binance are blocked in Great Britain.
Currently, the Binance card is only available in the following countries: Aruba, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Curaçao, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Reunion, Romania, Saint-Martin, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
Is the Binance Card ever coming to the UK?
There is no way of knowing for sure. Binance is still looking for a legal way to operate within the lawful boundaries of the UK. The prospects are certainly not looking great as restrictions and bans seem to keep coming their way, and Binance doesn’t seem able to co-op with the legal aspects for now.
On the bright side, there is a variety of alternatives at present; some easily match the Binance card for versatility, affordability and ease of use.
Binance Card alternatives in the UK
With Binance being in a prolonged legal fight with the FCA, it’s only natural that people with an interest in crypto and alternative payment methods will turn to their competition. Below is a summary of the best Binance Card alternatives in the UK according to our research:
- Coinbase Card: Coinbase Card would currently be the most straightforward replacement for the Binance Card in the UK. Coinbase is the largest publicly traded US crypto exchange. It offers the Coinbase Visa debit card that can be used everywhere that Visa is accepted.
- Crypto.com Card: Crypto.com stands out as a leading cryptocurrency exchange that caters to a wide array of digital assets and blockchain-related services. Crypto.com offers a range of Visa debit cards, which makes it one of the most flexible options.
- eToro Card: Founded in 2007, eToro is a popular social trading platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. eToro offers the eToro Money App, which also comes with an optional free Debit card for eToro club members in the UK.
You can find a summary table below and more detailed information about each of the companies further down the Article!
| Coinbase | Crypto.com | eToro | |
| Physical Card Cost | Free | Most are free, except the Midnight Blue card (4.99£) | Free, but only club members are eligible. |
| Cashback | Up to 4% | Up to 5% | No |
| Annual Fee | No | No | No |
| Accepted by merchants worldwide | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ATM fees | 1.5% | Free until a limit. | Free up to £650 a month with no transaction fee, then 1.65% |
| Cryptocurrencies Supported | 8 | 48 | 80 |
| Other features | No credit check required | Staking Rewards: Up to 4% per annum | The platform offers a wide variety of investments, not just cryptocurrencies |
| A 2.49% conversion fee applicable for non-USD Coin transactions | Free airport lounge access, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Spotify rebates. | Fund deposits without additional fees | |
| A 3% international purchase transaction fee | Higher trading fees for low-volume traders, especially those without holdings of Crypto.com’s native | Instant withdraws |
Coinbase
Coinbase is the largest publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange and the largest platform in the US in terms of trading volume (4th worldwide). The company was founded in 2012 and since April 14, 2021, is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker COIN. The platform processes approximately $1.31 billion in average daily volume and is currently available in more than 100 countries.
Coinbase stands out for its user-friendly platforms that cater to different trading preferences. It offers the Coinbase Wallet for users looking for a more interactive and non-custodial experience, and Advanced Trade, another platform which is intended for experienced traders and offers enhanced trading tools.
Coinbase also offers a Visa card that is similar to the Binance card. The Coinbase Card allows you to spend funds from your Coinbase cash or cryptocurrency balance with 0% spending fees on all purchases. To spend your cryptocurrency, Coinbase will automatically convert it to pound sterling (GBP) when making a purchase. At the same time, cardholders can accumulate cashback rewards of up to 4% of their crypto purchases.
Crypto.com
Established in 2016 Crypto.com is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange with a distinct identity with its app-first approach and comprehensive financial services ecosystem built around its native CRO coin.
While the Crypto.com App primarily serves as a crypto wallet and debit card platform, it also integrates a fully functional exchange. Users can conveniently engage in spot trading for more than 250 cryptocurrencies directly within its user-friendly interface.
Crypto.com offers a variety of Visa cards, making it the most versatile option in terms of card choice. In comparison to Binance and Coinbase, Crypto.com uses a system that locks in your crypto funds (“staking”) for a specified amount of time. Crypto.com supports a wide array of cryptocurrency types, and to avoid market fluctuations, the owner’s chosen crypto coin is converted to GBP based on the real-time market value and then loaded to the Crypto.com Visa.
eToro
eToro is a social and multi-asset investment platform headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel. It sets itself apart through its unique feature: “social investing,” whereby inexperienced traders can copy those trades done by other investors. It stands out as a great entry platform for new investors and by that virtue alone, it’s a big breath of fresh air in a crowded market.
eToro offers a separate App, called eToro Money. It’s a money management App that helps you deposit and withdraw money faster with a direct link to your investment account. Your eToro Money account also gives you the option to use the eToro Visa Debit card as long as you are an eToro Club Member. You can instantly withdraw any money from a non-open position to your eToro Money account and then use your card to spend it anywhere that Visa cards are accepted.
Sadly, if you want to pay with your crypto assets you’d first need to manually sell them and transfer the money to your eToro Money account. This adds several extra steps to the whole payment process, which could be slightly annoying to some people. On the other hand, the biggest benefit of using eToro would be that you can use the platform for ANY type of investment, not just crypto.
Finally, eToro charges a 0% commission with stocks and ETFs but adds a 1% fee with crypto transactions. The platform applies no management or custody fees at all.
Revolut
If you are interested in a more versatile solution, you can also check out the “Crypto Card Cashback Promotion” from Revolut. The promotion is allowing you to use your Revolut Visa card to pay directly with crypto holdings and earn 1% cashback. This feature makes the current Revolut card a “hybrid”, which you can use to pay in a traditional fiat currency or cryptocurrency. It’s very simple to try it, especially if you already are a Revolut user, but it also comes with its downsides. Buying cryptocurrencies in Revolut is fairly expensive, you can find a fee summary in the table below:
| Crypto exchange rate fee | Fair usage limit and fee | Monthly cost | |
| Standard | 1.49% (with a minimum of £1.49) | 1000£ per month 1% extra fee afterwards |
Free |
| Pro | 1.49% (with a minimum of £1.49) | 1000£ per month 1% extra fee afterwards |
£2.99/month |
| Premium | 0.99% with no minimum fee | No fair usage limit | £6.99/month |
| Metal | 0.99% with no minimum fee | No fair usage limit | £12.99/month |
| Ultra | 0.49% with no minimum fee | No fair usage limit | £45/month |
So, as you can probably see, Revolut will not be the cheapest option, but it’s surely one to consider. Combined with the rest of their services, Revolut provides a relatively complete package. It is an easy way to test if using crypto as an everyday payment currency is something you like and you’d stick to.
Another downside to committing to Revolut would be that crypto payments are defined as a temporal promotion. Even though Revolut doesn’t have an end date for it, they are free to cancel it at any point in time.
What is a Crypto Card?
A crypto card is very similar to an everyday bank card. A traditional bank card is pre-loaded with a regular currency (e.g. GBP, EUR, USD, etc.), while a crypto debit card is preloaded with a cryptocurrency. When attempting to pay (for example, at a cosy Italian restaurant), your crypto card will automatically exchange the cryptocurrency in your debit card into a fiat currency and process the payment normally. Everything happens instantaneously and is much simpler than going through the trouble of exchanging and withdrawing your crypto investments first (and cheaper)!
Crypto credit cards work in the familiar “buy now, pay later” model, which we are used to. Your bill would be payable in fiat currency, which means that opting for that option is worth it mainly if you are looking for the crypto reward system.
The biggest two advantages of a crypto card would be:
- You can easily spend the money you have invested in cryptocurrency without exchanging and withdrawing first.
- Crypto cards usually have appealing rewards systems
Please note, that the biggest disadvantage of owning a crypto card is that cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, meaning that your purchasing power can vary substantially. However, you can avoid this problem by purchasing stablecoins, cryptocurrencies with a market value pegged to an external reference (e.g., the USD).
Conclusion
Even if the Binance Card is not available in the UK, there are still many viable replacements for people interested in crypto payment methods, the most notable and straightforward being Coinbase and Crypto.com. We advise thorough research before opting for any card provider.
A result-driven and self-motivated Finance & Accounting specialist with international professional experience in handling key financial data, strategic planning, team management, and sales.
