App Based Banking: Top Digital Banks with Crypto Options
The number of digital banks with crypto options is growing. In addition to newcomers who offer digital-only access, a few existing banks and financial institutions have added crypto functionality to their platform.
It is important to decide what kind of functionality you need to have from your digital bank with crypto options before you sign up for its services. Unlike the existing banking model, the new crop of digital banks with crypto options offer various services.
Not every company that is listed here will have the same deposit guarantees that a normal bank or credit union will offer. Some of them are FDIC insured, and any kind of deposit guarantee that the financial platform offers will be mentioned.
Many crypto users like the idea of decentralized currency, which may affect their desire for a government deposit guarantee for their savings. Regardless, it is important to consider this aspect of a digital bank with crypto options before depositing your fiat or cryptos with them.
The Top Digital Banks With Crypto Options
There are many digital banks that give you everyday banking features, and also offer options for crypto ownership and use. All of these banks have specific service areas, so make sure you can use them before you decide on your favorite.
We have also covered Bitcoin / Crypto debit cards, so take a look there if you don’t require full banking facilities.
Revolut
Revolut is an innovative financial firm that offers basic banking services for people from the UK and many EU nations. It also supports the ownership of cryptocurrencies, with a few strings attached. For people that travel a lot, Revolut is probably one of the better digital banking options out there.
The digital financial services company offers low priced ATM transactions globally, as well as cheap rates for international money transfers. Revolut customers can use a Visa debit card that is inexpensive (or free with numerous special offers), and manage their money from a slick app that gets great reviews.
Revolut isn’t actually a bank (outside of Lithuania), though it is regulated by the FCA in the UK. Revolut customers in Lithuania are covered by a 100,000 EUR deposit guarantee, but this doesn’t extend to any other customers of the platform.
For people that want to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies, Revolut has an interesting option. The platform allows its clients to buy and sell cryptos, both crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat, all from within the app. The rates that Revolut offers are good, but there is one small catch.
People who choose to own cryptos via their Revolut account never get to access any private keys. In essence, this means that Revolut ‘owns’ the cryptos, and its clients have to jump through some hoops to actually use the cryptos outside of the platform.
Regardless of the lack of actual crypto ownership, Revolut offers one of the most integrated crypto/fiat platforms out there. Clients can spend crypto holdings directly with their debit card, and trade as much as they want within their own account.
Depending on your needs, Revolut is certainly a contender for a current account, especially if you have an international lifestyle. There are some monthly membership fees for people who need to move a lot of money through the platform, which is worth keeping in mind.
Read our full review of Revolut here.
Wirex
Wirex isn’t a bank in the traditional sense, but they offer banking services for people that want to use both cryptos and fiat currency. It is also registered with the UK’s FCA, though deposits aren’t covered by any sort of guarantee.
If you are a resident of the UK, Wirex can help you to integrate cryptos into your daily life. A Wirex account accepts deposits from credit and debit cards, bank transfers and major cryptocurrencies. It also supports the use of multiple fiat currencies, including GBP, USD, and EUR.
One of the best parts of the Wirex platform is its flexibility. Once you deposit fiat currency or cryptos in a Wirex account, it is simple to convert it into anything that the platform supports. It is simple to make fiat to cryptos exchanges at very competitive rates or cash out your cryptos for fiat.
Wirex also allows you to use your account balance with a debit card it supplies. There are a few options, but the GBP Visa debit card is probably the most convenient for people in the UK. It is easy to spend your Wirex balance at local stores or use the debit card to pull cash from an ATM if needed.
The platform also allows users to choose between the use of a crypto wallet, and a traditional currency wallet, depending on the functionality they want to have.
For crypto users, the ability to have a multi-signature wallet that interfaces with a fiat exchange is super handy, and a great feature that Wirex offers.
If you are looking for a full-service bank, Wirex isn’t going to be the right platform. It focuses on making crypto and fiat work together, but it doesn’t offer things like loans, or even credit cards. It is a great way to get into the world of crypto, and can easily be funded from a regular bank account.
Read our full review of Wirex here.
Simple Bank
Simple Bank is an online bank in the USA that offers a range of banking services, and is fully insured by the FDIC. It also reportedly offers a direct option to buy cryptocurrencies, though its crypto capabilities aren’t described on its website at the time of writing.
As a fiat bank, Simple Bank does a lot. It clients can choose from a range of services, as well as spending metrics that can help with budgeting. The bank also charges virtually no fees on its services, which makes it a good choice for young people who want to save money.
Simple Bank also offers great interest rates on savings accounts. For people that just want to option to buy cryptos, and may not need the kind of trading tools that a more advanced crypto user might desire, a deeper look into Simple Bank may be a good idea.
Ally Bank
Ally Bank is another digital bank with crypto options. While it doesn’t offer direct ownership of cryptos from its platform, it does feature seamless integration with Coinbase. Ally Bank customers can easily buy and sell cryptos via Coinbase, and transfer fiat back and forth as needed.
As a fiat bank, Ally Bank gives its clients a lot of services. It is also FDIC insured so that any fiat you have deposited with them will be covered by a $250,000 deposit guarantee.
Ally Bank was founded by GMAC and has created a banking platform that is roughly the same as many other online-only banks. Customers need to have a smartphone and will be able to access their cash via a network of more than 55,000 ATMs spread across the USA with no fees.
The bank also offers high-interest rates for savers, as it has very little overhead due to its business model. Ally Bank probably isn’t a great choice for someone who doesn’t want to deal with fiat currency, but it is a good bank for anyone who wants to trade in an out of the crypto and fiat systems.
It would be very easy to set up an online account with Ally Bank for your savings or checking account, and then use it to buy and sell cryptos with Coinbase. No worries about transferring cash back and forth, as both platforms are 100% friendly with each other.
USAA
The USAA isn’t technically a digital online bank with crypto options, as it has a few brick-and-mortar locations in the USA. The vast majority of its customers do use an app to bank with USAA, and it is a FDIC insured federal savings bank.
There is one catch with the USAA; it is only available to current and former US military personal, and some of their qualifying dependents. That said, the USAA was the first US bank to invest in a crypto exchange, and they offer integration of customer accounts with Coinbase.
As a bank, the USAA is quite robust, and it offers a full range of banking products, including credit and debit cars, in addition to lending services. It doesn’t accept deposits in cryptos directly, but clients can deposit cryptos in their Coinbase account, and then transfer the funds to their USAA account.
The USAA also offers great interest rates on savings accounts, in addition to a full-featured app that allows clients to do just about anything they need to do with their smartphone. If you qualify for an account at USAA and want to do more with cryptos, the USAA/Coinbase alliance is certainly worth a look.
Fidor Bank
Fidor Bank DE is a German digital bank with cryptos options via its partnership with crypto exchange Kraken. The bank also offers a range of standard banking services, including low-fee debit cards that work internationally.
While Kraken and Fidor Bank are not the same entity, they offer Fidor Bank clients to ability to rapidly send funds between the two platforms.
The arrangement between Kraken and Fidor Bank makes trading in between the fiat and crypto markets simple and isn’t too far removed from an integrated account that allows you to use cryptos in the regular fiat banking system.
Kraken is a first-rate crypto exchange that has loads token pairs, and also advanced trading tools like leverage and limit orders. Fidor Bank has all the normal digital banking services, including an app to manage your money, and analytics to keep track of your spending.
The major downside to Fidor Bank is its limited availability. It recently abandoned its UK operations due to political uncertainties, though the crypto integration it created with Kraken never extended to its UK clients.
For German residents who want an easy way to bank online, and want access to a leading exchange, Fidor Bank is worth a look.
LHV Bank
LHV Bank is based in Estonia, and has recently opened up an office in the UK. It has a long history of supporting cryptos, and also works directly with Coinbase. The details of how this benefits its customers is somewhat murky, but it should be easy to move money back and forth between LHV and Coinbase.
Unlike some of the other digital banks on this list, LHV Bank has been doing business since 1999. It does accept clients from EU member states and offers a wide range of banking services. LHV is probably worth a look if you want to bank out of Estonia, and also want to do business with Coinbase.
Change Bank
Change Bank is focused on using cryptos as cash and allowing its clients to buy major token like Bitcoin with zero fees.
The platform is still young, and they recently started accepting preorders for a Change Bank debit card that will allow its clients to pay for goods and services with their holdings, as well as also retrieve cash from ATMs.
Change Bank is headquartered in Estonia, and the app which powers the platform can be downloaded for free. For the moment Change Bank isn’t a realistic solution for someone who needs to interact with the fiat economy frequently, but the platform’s functionality is growing fast.
For people that want to start turning their Euros into cryptos, Change Bank looks like a good way to do it. If their plans to launch a debit card are successful, it should attract many more users to a promising fintech platform.
Bitwala
Bitwala is perhaps the model that digital banks with crypto options of the future will follow. It allows its clients to keep their funds in more than 20 different fiat currencies, and more than 40 cryptos.
The platform that Bitwala created is clearly aimed at crypto users, but it also has a ton of fiat functionality for people that need to maintain a presence in both economies. Bitwala offers Bitcoin trading and ownership directly from a client’s bank account, and charges a low 1% fee for any trades.
The Bitwala debit card can be used just about anywhere in the EU, and may also work in other areas as well. It also offers its clients a crypto wallet that is fully controlled by the owner of the account, which is far more secure in the event of a problem with the bank.
On the fiat side, Bitwala depositors are covered by Germany’s deposit guarantee scheme, up to the amount of 100,000 Euros. If this is an important part of Bitwala’s structure, make sure you are covered by the German Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS).
Major Banks Support Crypto Transactions Too
It might come as something of a surprise, but many of the worlds largest banks are happy to let their customers transfer money bank and forth from crypto exchanges. The crypto world took a lot of flack from big banks during 2017, which may stick in the minds of crypto enthusiasts.
Digital banks offer clients a range of services at cut-rate prices, but they may not seem as safe to people who want to be able to call a banker for help or need to have access to a range of lending services that only major banks offer.
Here are a few banks that offer advanced banking services that also are happy to deal with cryptocurrency exchanges. Some of them even offer crypto-related products, depending on what kind of accounts you have at the bank.
Goldman Sachs
After being very skeptical of cryptos during Bitcoin’s 2017 mega-rally, Goldman Sachs has been a force in the adoption of crypto and blockchain technology on Wall St. The bank decided to launch crypto futures trading earlier this year, and may join other banks in creating a proprietary token.
Goldman Sachs isn’t a normal retail bank like Bank of America or Barclays, but it does offer a depth of advanced financial products. Clearly, it isn’t going to be an option for everyone, but for high-net-worth individuals who want to get into cryptos, Goldman Sachs is worth a call.
Clear.Bank
UK upstart Clear.Bank made headlines when Coinbase announced that Barclays was cutting ties with the crypto exchange, and Clear.Bank would be the replacement. Clear.Bank is the UK’s first clearing bank to be opened in 250 years, and it offers accounts for commercial customers.
While retail customers won’t be able to use Clear.Bank’s services, the new tie up between Clear.Bank and Coinbase should make it simple to move money between the crypto exchange and just about any UK bank.
More Digital Banks with Crypto Options are Coming Soon
The popularity of both digital banks and cryptocurrencies is recent. There are a few platforms that are under development that are also worth watching, especially if you want to use both cryptos and fiat currency in your daily life.
Monaize
Monaize is an early stage online banking platform that is building a banking infrastructure which is aimed at online professionals. It is based in France, and has some ambitious goals.
The world of banking is basically set up for two specific groups: retail banking customers, and large commercial entities. Retail banking customers are expected to have a fixed address and a job that creates their income.
The problem is: that business model isn’t going to work for today’s online professional.
Monaize is creating an app-based platform that will allow online professionals to open an account quickly, and bank without a lot of red tape. The program is still under development, but Monaize wants to roll it out across the EU, North America, and Asia.
The KYC verification system that Monaize uses should be able to onboard clients in well under an hour and will allow freelances to access professional banking services without a lot of hassles. Clearly, Monaize has a great idea.
Bankera
Bankera is another new project with bold ideas. It is based in the EU, and is working to create a fiat bank that also has extensive support for crypto interoperability.
The platform that Bankera is developing would work as a fiat bank, crypto bank, as well as a crypto exchange. It has created a token called SpectroCoin which is currently operational and allows crypto users to buy and sell major cryptos.
SpectroCoin also has a debit card and dedicated wallet for people that want to trade cryptos, and have the ability to spend them in the fiat economy. Bankera has a good foundation for future growth and may be a model for the next phase of crypto-fiat integration.
Basic Crypto Debit Cards
Some people may not need to have a full range of banking services, and just want to spend their cryptos at local stores, or be able to withdraw fiat from an ATM. There are a few options out there if all you want is a crypto debit card, so that you have a way to bridge the gap between the crypto and fiat economies.
Read: Our Guide to the Best Bitcoin Debit Cards
Uquid
Uquid offers its clients a Visa debit card that allows the use of Bitcoin or altcoins as fiat in both POS transactions, and ATM withdrawals. It charges a range of fees for its services, which start with the 1 EUR / month fee to hold the card. Uquid is fairly limited from the perspective of a bank, and is a decent option for people that just want to spend their cryptos as cash, and don’t need anything else.
Cryptopay
Cryptopay is a Bitcoin-focused platform that allows UK crypto users to load a debit card with BTC, and use it for POS transactions and ATM withdrawals. The platform also allows UK residents to buy BTC, and exchange it for other cryptos, as well as some supported fiat currencies. Cryptopay has a dedicated app for its platform, as well as live support for its clients.
BitPay
BitPay is one of the oldest crypto payment options. It has been around since 2011, and lets its clients load up a Visa debit card with BTC that can be used at POS terminals and ATMs. It has developed a slick app to manage the platform from a smartphone, and gets good reviews.
Digital Banks with Crypto Options are Growing
The number of digital banks with crypto options is growing. Most of them have a limited service area, as the current banking regulations make it difficult for them to expand globally. As banking services become more attuned to the global marketplace, it is likely that consumers will have many more digital banks with crypto options to choose from.
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Nicholas Say, Khareem Sudlow