TenX Visa Scheduled to shut down on October 16
TenX and its customers have encountered a major obstacle on the road to mass acceptance of cryptocurrency. The TenX Visa; which is supposed to convert DASH, Bitcoin, and Ethereum into fiat currencies, will only work in Europe, Israel and Turkey after 16 October.
The issuer of TenX Visa’s debit card; Wave Crest Holdings, stopped issuing cards outside its European territory, a blog at TenX’s website revealed. That means new cards will not be shipped out of Europe, and existing TenX cards outside of the European territory may not work.
TenX Visas outside of the European territory are scheduled to stop working on 16 October 2017, the same blog revealed. To make matters worse, the blog contained this message for cardholders:
“Cardholders outside the European territory who; for whatever reason, haven’t yet activated their cards, will not be able to do so. Their WaveCrest-issued TenX cards are now just cool souvenirs.”
Where the TenX Visa will Work
Here is a list of countries and territories where TenX Visa cards are supposed to work after October 16:
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- France
- Sweden
- Finland
- Spain
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- Israel
- Ireland
- Poland
- Norway
- Portugal
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- The Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Monaco
- Andorra
- San Marino
- Vatican City
- The Isle of Man
- Gibraltar
- Greenland
- Canary Islands
- Maderia
- Bailiwick of Jersey
- Bailiwick of Guernsey
As you can see TenX users in the Western Hemisphere, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Rim are out of luck. Even people in TenX’s hometown of Singapore will not be able to use the cards after October 16.
New TenX Visa Planned
TenX is scrambling to find a new credit-card issuer and hopes to ship those cards sometime in November 2017. Since no date is available, no such cardholders have apparently been lined up.
Existing cardholders and those on the waitlist outside of Europe will receive the replacement cards free of charge whenever they ship. The problem is that nobody knows when they will ship.
To its’ credit, TenX will refund the full deposit paid for the cards; in the form of $15 worth of Bitcoin. Irate customers can request a refund by emailing: [email protected] – those who request a refund will not receive the replacement card.
TenX has not said under what name brand name the new card will be issued or who will issue it. That means we do not know if it will be a Visa or a MasterCard, or possibly American Express (NYSE: AXP).
Yes Cryptocurrency Fans, TenX is a Bank
TenX also ran into a serious problem with regulators that I anticipated. They nearly got shut down because they were running a bank without a license.
Since they lack a banking license TenX, cannot issue Visa cards in most territories. They can issue cards in Europe because Wave Crest apparently has a banking license. Until it gets a banking license TenX will have to pay another company to issue the cards.
That means TenX cards issued in different territories might have different brand names on them. A user in Europe might have a TenX Visa but the card in North America could be MasterCard, American Express, or even Discover.
Alternatives to TenX
It looks as if the path to mass acceptance and use of cryptocurrency is not as clear as we thought. Instead, it will probably take a year or longer to get these solutions working.
One has to wonder if products like Uquid and ShakePay will get shut down next. A big winner here might be Change Bank; which admits it is a bank and may have a banking license.
Persons that want to take advantage of a cryptocurrency debit card would be well-advised to wait a few months; or longer, and see what product works out. That way you can avoid spending good money on a debit card – that will be nothing but a useless hunk of plastic.
