Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts are more than happy to escape the world of fiat, however, being able to successfully transition from using fiat currencies to dealing purely in cryptos will take time and an entirely new banking infrastructure. If you're based in a country that still treats cryptocurrencies with suspicion then there's the real possibility that your account may be closed as a result of purchasing your favorite coin.
Despite this fact, many choose to solider on and make use of both centralized and decentralized exchanges to purchase and trade cryptos while running the risk of retribution from their banking services provider. Fortunately, advances in the world of fintech have produced a number of banking projects that look set to step in and provide cryptocurrency friendly services for the entire community. Here are five of the best.
Fidor Bank
First up is Fidor Bank, a digital bank founded in Germany in 2009 that seeks to modernize banking by providing users with digital options tailored to their needs. The bank promises to enable users to be able to send money to friends via their email address or mobile number and provide a host of banking options including saving bonds and crowdfunding investments.
The Fidor Smart Current Account comes with the option of a digital or physical Mastercard and can be applied for online in minutes. Fidor boasts around 100,000 clients and more than 300,000 community members in its native Germany but is planning to expand its customer base in the UK and throughout Europe. Fidor have made all the right noises regarding their support for cryptocurrencies and have teamed up with Kraken in order to provide a fully functioning cryptocurrency bank.
Change Bank
Change plans to completely revolutionize banking through a three-pronged attack. Firstly, they plan to offer a crypto wallet that can be used to store & send cryptocurrencies, whilst also offering a cryptocurrency spending card that also earns rewards by paying with Change Tokens. Change also seeks to outdo traditional banks by operating a marketplace that aggregates the best ways to invest, insure or lend and provides these services from a single interface & wallet. Individuals onboarded to the Change platform can benefit from getting all their financial services from a single source with Change acting as an "AppStore" for the best performing specialized financial service companies.
Change Bank users can choose to invest in a diversified stock portfolio or real estate, finance loans, or sign travel insurance. This can all be done from one interface with complete transparency and zero delay. For the more business minded, Change has partnered with the e-Residency project provided by the government of Estonia, this project allows entrepreneurs to start up and run digital businesses registered in Estonia without having to visit the country. Change will also be available to an estimated 10 million e-Residents.
Change Bank is currently conducting a token sale that concludes on the 16th of October.
Worldcore
Launched in 2015, Worldcore started out by offering multi-currency accounts and later added prepaid debit and virtual cards to its list of services. The Czech based bank has grown in importance and is now the number one payment institution in the country. Worldcore is continuing to branch out and after onboarding via an ID verification process, any account holder has access to all the financial services they offer. Clients are able to:
- Accept bank payments directly to a Worldcore account;
- Buy, sell or pay for any services or goods from their Worldcore account balance;
- Load their Worldcore account with any supported e-currencies and withdraw funds in US Dollars or Euros to any bank account or any Visa/Mastercard/UnionPay in the world at low fees;
- Make free internal payments to any Worldcore account holder;
- Order any number of Worldcore prepaid debit cards to convert account balances into cash at ATMs worldwide.
In addition to these services Worldcore is also focused on providing solutions for the crypto community, and their PayAnyCard can be loaded with cryptos enabling the easy spending of digital currencies. Worldcore also provide their Ultimate MasterCard and Virtual Debit Card and provide support for over 10 currencies when conducting transactions. The Czech company offer a whole host of banking solutions for both individuals and businesses and are focused on providing a comprehensive set of banking services with additional features aimed at the crypto community already in the pipeline.
Worldcore is conducting a token sale that starts on the the 14th of October.
Bankera
Bankera is an operational fork of SpectroCoin, the UK based Bitcoin exchange that boasts more than 300k users and has issued more than 50k Bitcoin debit cards. Bankera is aiming to build a fully comprehensive digital bank and plans to provide payment accounts with personal IBAN, debit cards, interbank foreign exchange rates and payment processing. Bankera will supplement these services with support for both traditional fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, DASH, NEM, and a number of ERC20 compliant tokens.
Bankera also aim to offer loans and deposits that allow its clients to obtain interest rates on their holdings or to borrow at a preferable rate. Bankera will also offer to take cryptoassets as collaterals for loans. In addition, all Bankera clients will be able to benefit from higher interest rates due to proprietary information about borrowers' cash flow, as most loans will be given to business clients who use the payment processing solution. A range of investments will also be provided and these will consist of low-cost investment products such as equity traded funds, crypto-funds, and roboadvisory solutions for wealth management. Due to local regulations, Bankera services are not available to citizens of the United States of America.
Bankera launched its pre-ICO on the 28th of August 2017.
Monaize
Monaize seeks to cater to freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small enterprises in France and the UK by providing business facilities that have previously been denied to cryptocurrency investors. Monaize is a 100% mobile e-banking platform that users interface via a sleek mobile app. Monaize aims to offer a straightforward service that lets users:
- Open a business bank account with an IBAN number, and a Monaize Business Mastercard that allows up to £10 000 per day in card purchases and up to £1 000 per month in cash withdrawals.
- Take out professional insurance: Public liability insurance adapted to the specific needs of the business.
- Obtain a payment system via mPOS, SMS/E-mail, on site widgets for E-commerce.
- Access crowd-lending solutions in order to finance their business.
- Conduct their banking through an efficient mobile application.
To open a UK account you need to be a Director in a British company and reside in the UK. You will be asked for the following information:
- Company name and registration number.
- Passport belonging to a company director.
- Proof of address belonging to a company director.
Monaize has an ICO planned for next month and the token sale will take place on 10th November 2017.