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They’re convenient, cheap to purchase and look cool (lol). The usual debit cards have no names printed apart from the card number which actually looks like your regular ATM number. So why would you want to use debit cards?
To summarize it we’ll look the benefits of using one.
The Good
- You can withdraw your funds without going through your bank account, which means slight anonymity to local jurisdiction.
- Transferring of funds is easy from card to card. Usually card to card transfers are instant, so the other party can do withdrawals instantly after receiving a transfer.
- Tracking of funds usage can be done on your card administration panel.
- The funds are still secure, if the card is lost. You just have to request for a new card replacement since the funds are in your card account.
- You can use it internationally, as long as your card and the ATM machines support Cirrus (which most are). Useful when you’re traveling around and needs foreign cash.
The Bad
- It’s seriously expensive to fund your card. Any transaction will cost you 3 - 5%, depending on provider.
- It’s not exactly anonymous. I haven’t seen one for now, as most card provider do require your photo ID before activating your card.
- The length of funding time is determine by the card provider you’re using.
- Current E-gold debit card industry is hit pretty badly with the NYCC decease order. Our favourite cards (gCard, Cash Evolution, Uniclear) are not spared and some people do have funds stuck in this saga.
Unless you are a person who is very particular on your regular bank account statements, debit card option is no no when it comes to scale of economics. It’s good to have a reliable card for standby when you’re in dire need of quick funds (when gCard was around, it was instant funding), travelling, or maybe getting a card for your kid for their schooling allowance or something.
We’ll look at exchangers and the pros/cons of bank wires for E-gold tomorrow.
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To the bad I would add the risk of being scammed or the risk of the debit card provider’s site to be hacked. I know people who lost a lot due to Bluebanking’s security holes
Oh speaking of which, they still owe me a card. Anything got to do with Udachu is simply unreliable anyway.
I’d like to comment on the fact that they require photo ID therefore your conclusion is that they’re not anonymous. Well I agree that there’s no such thing as a purely anonymous account nowadays, but sending your ID/photo ID to the debit card issuer doesn’t mean you’ve revealed your identity - as long as your debit card issuer respects your privacy. That’s where the importance of what legal jurisdiction the debit card issuer is, comes into play. If the card issuer were in the US/UK, etc. then your transactions are pretty much an open book, so there would be no anonymity. However if the debit card issuer is clever, they can establish themselves in a country with strong privacy laws, and your semi-anonymity would be almost guaranteed in that case.
Nice article, Jude! I’m looking forward to the bank wire review. Are you going to do a review of the pros and cons of payment processers that convert e-gold, too?
Thanks,
Sharon
Hey Sharon, thank you for your kind words. I’ll much sum up everything in summarised points comparing between debit cards and bank withdrawals on E-gold.