Coinbase has announced that its Coinbase Card can now be used to make purchases at locations where Apple Pay and Google Pay are accepted. The Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card issued in partnership with MetaBank. This will enable online shoppers to pay on both payment platforms with their Coinbase Card, while earning rebates. The Coinbase Card will base its rewards on cryptocurrency rather than fiat currency.
Holders to earn 4% in Stellar and 1% in Bitcoin
This card is a bit different from other crypto-based debit cards because it enables direct spending from the Coinbase account of the user. The card enables its holders to earn about 4% in Stellar Lumens (XLM) and 1% in Bitcoin (BTC) as rewards. Presently, it supports about 30 different cryptocurrencies.
On Tuesday, Coinbase announced that the new feature in a blog post, stating that selected customers on the waitlist will start gaining crypto rewards on their transactions from June.
Additionally, the exchange, which is the largest in the U.S., said it will enable users to make fiat purchases and ATM withdrawals by converting crypto to fiat and transferring the funds to their Coinbase account.
Service is only available in the U.S for now
The company’s Visa debit card was rolled out in April 2019 in the U.K. to make it more convenient to complete transactions for goods and services using cryptocurrencies. After unveiling the service in the U.K., it has been launched in major European countries. However, it wasn’t until October last year that the exchange’s U.S-based users were able to enjoy the service. The recently launched card reward program will also be available to only U.S. customers for now. But in the future, it wants to extend the service to other countries as well.
