Crypterium

Crypterium is a Fintech company based in Estonia and considers itself a cryptobank.

In order to use the financial services of Crypterium, the installation of a wallet app is required. This app is available for iOS and Android.

The Crypterium App includes the following functions:

• Multi-Wallet – One wallet each for the supported crypto currencies
• Crypterium Debit Card
• Bank transfers to transfer money to any bank account, e.g. to pay bills with Bitcoin.
• Purchase of vouchers, prepaid cards and mobile phone prepaid goods

After the app has been installed, you will be asked to perform an identity check. The mobile phone number and e-mail address are verified. Then you have to create your identity card, a consumption bill for the address verification, a selfie with your identity card and a selfie with your signature using your mobile phone and send it to Crypterium via the app. After about 2 working days the check is completed and the functions can be used.

The Kryptowallet can be loaded by transfer from another wallet or you can also buy Bitcoins from Crypterium.

Crypterium Card
The Crypterium Card is a UnionPay prepaid card and supports the crypto-currencies Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), USD Coin (USDC) and the own Crypterium Token, short CRPT-Token.

With the Crypterium Card the account is topped up with one of the above mentioned crypto currencies. If you pay with the Crypterium Card, at this point the crypto amount is converted into the fiat currency and the payment is executed.

With the Crypterium Card you can pay wherever UnionPay is accepted as a credit card. UnionPay is a Chinese credit card company and the world’s largest card network with more than 6 billion cards issued.

There are few merchants in Europe that accept payments by UnionPay credit cards. Most ATMs support the possibility of withdrawing money with the UnionPay card. Even if Crypterium does not charge a fee for withdrawals from the machine, an additional fee may be charged at the machine by the machine operator.

The Crypterium UnionPay Card costs $9.99 once for owners of CRPT tokens. Those who do not have the required 200 tokens pay a one-time fee of $24.99 ($14.99 the card plus $10 for shipping the card). There is no monthly fee. A charge of 2.5% (2% + 0.5% gas, as CRPT commission) is made for topping up the card. $2.50 of the top-up amount.

The card must be pre-loaded with Bitcoin and when loading, the card is already changed into USD and not only when paying or withdrawing.

The card is a USD card. If you pay with a USD card at a merchant in the euro area, additional cross-border fees for foreign payments will be charged. A cross-border fee of 2% is indicated on the website. This means that, as the card is denominated in USD, any withdrawal or payment in the euro zone will incur an additional fee of 2%.

The card can be applied for and used worldwide. The daily limit is max. $10,000 and $60,000 per month. Up to $2,500 can be withdrawn daily from the machine.

It is not apparent on which exchange rate the conversion rate is based if the purchase amount is settled in Bitcoin at the time of purchase.

The price (one-time $24.99) and conditions (2.5% top-up), plus no other fees, the Crypterium Card has acceptable fees. However, you will find few online shops and shops in Europe where you can pay with a UnionPay card. Withdrawing money from ATMs will not be a problem as almost all ATMs accept UnionPay (look for the UnionPay sticker). Since it is a USD card, payment in euros will incur an additional currency conversion fee (cross-boarder fee) of 2% and will make the card unattractive in Europe.

Besides the Crypterium Card, Crypterium also offers other services:

Pay bills with crypto currencies.
You can use your Bitcoin balance to pay bills to any bank account. All you have to do is enter the IBAN number of the payee’s bank account, the invoice amount in Euros and the Crypterium app will execute the transfer and debit your crypto credit.

Top up mobile phone prepaid credit
With the Crypterium app you can top up the prepaid credit on your smartphone. But also credit cards for your Skype, Viber and Steam account.

Conclusion: At first glance a great overall package. But unfortunately the hidden fees for the card are extremely high with a 2.5% top-up fee plus 2% crossboarder fee.