Russia’s Mir Card Takes Competition To Visa, MasterCard and Bitcoin
The central bank of Russia has proven to be quite an interesting creature over the years. Despite not being in favor of new technologies or alternative payment methods, they have now decided to launch a new national payments card. Doing so would bring the competition directly to Visa and MasterCard, and so farm thirty-five Russian banks have agreed to participate in the project. It is not the first – nor will it be the last – time Russia is trying to come up with a revolutionary new payment system to take on the dominance by Western players. This more recent attempt started back in 2014....
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Today, at 17:49 BTC-e time, BTC-e released this update on their site. This was the first update in nearly a month, the last update being a statement regarding Mt. Gox. Withdrawal of funds on the cards VISA / MasterCard issued in any country and in any currency. Dear our valuable clients! 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. Fee - 5%. Transfer of funds is possible only in U. S. dollars . If your card is not in USD, the money....
The United States recently prohibited U. S. -registered companies from investing in Crimea or providing services to firms operating there. This prohibition went along with sanctions imposed as a result of Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine. The consequences for the people of Crimea and parts of Ukraine are now being exacerbated by Visa and Mastercard's suspension of regional bank card services. Also read: EuroPay, Mastercard, and Visa (EMV) Credit Cards Force Needed Security Upgrade with "Liability Shift". VISA and Mastercard Leave Crimea. Visa, in a recent statement, has....
One of the top exchanges in the cryptocurrency space, BTC-e, has announced today that they're allowing traders to withdraw funds to VISA or MasterCard-issued credit/debit cards. According to the exchange, the withdrawal method can be done "in any country and in any currency", but notes that all transactions take place in U. S. Dollars, meaning that if a cardholder's card does not go by USD, it will be converted as per the VISA/MasterCard (or bank) rate. While most users should not have any issues, BTC-e warns that MasterCard Maestro and VISA Electron cards are not supported by their payout....
Notoriously tight-lipped bitcoin exchange and CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index member BTC-e is now allowing customers to withdraw funds to Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards, with some exceptions. The company blog post, issued on 21st March, indicated that the new program is now available to customers in any country, using any currency. All customers will pay a 5% fee for the service. The new functionality is noteworthy as it will allow customers to send money to debit and credit cards issued by two of the largest and most commonly used international card issuers. At present, the....
A new way to pay by bitcoin is on the horizon, a bitcoin debit card called iBTCard. That name stands for International Bitcoin Transfer Card. The company behind the project, Tradecoinz LLC, is hoping to provide an alternative payment method to VISA and MasterCard, but in a way that most people can recognise and understand. We spoke to the founder and CEO of Tradecoinz, Cameron Halter, who told us that iBTCard will register with FinCEN as a money services business (MSB). He also stated that there will be policies in place to prevent theft and money laundering. One of those methods is a....