Did you know that modern banks shift towards cryptocurrency? Though digital currencies used to be avoided by banks because of fraud and scams associated with it, its popularity and growing interest encouraged banks to be more loyal to customers and businesses owning digital tokens.
You will agree that not all banks have decided to support crypto holders, however, many trusted financial institutions on different continents have already provided their clients with crypto-friendly options.
Look: this article will list you the most popular BitCoin friendly banks in Europe and tell what they are ready to offer their clients regarding cryptocurrency.
Fidor Bank
Founded in 2009, this German bank is based in Munich. It has partnered up with the popular exchange platforms such as BitCoin.de and Kraken and created an opportunity to buy cryptocurrency directly in the banks thanks to that.
Customers who are holders of Smart Giro Accounts can also transfer cryptocurrency from account to another. Moreover, the bank has suggested its clients Crypto-currency-as-a-Service offer of two types: ICO account and exchange account. Both of these accounts are corporate ones and must be appreciated by businesses focused on cryptocurrency. They feature pay-as-you-grow pricing model, no technology investment, API access, and even banking services for converting crypto into fiat money for ICO accounts.
LHV
Located in Estonia, this bank has been trying to keep up with the emerging technology since 2014. It has partnered up with such a popular startup as Coinfloor and strived to provide banking services to Coinbase, so these efforts resulted in launching Cuber Wallet app a blockchain wallet for sending digital representations of Euro currency. As a result, the bank was announced to be a pioneer in launching the first stablecoin in the market.
All the bank employees have completed onboarding training on cryptocurrency and now all the bank clients can purchase BitCoin directly in the bank thanks to the cooperation with Coinbase. It is one of the most crypto-friendly banks which does not stand in one place and continues to look for new ways how to take advantage of the blockchain technology for the financial institution.
Change Bank
This bank is located in Singapore and operated in the countries of Europe. Being in the process of its creation, it will be launched by 2020 with all its functionality including credit and debit cards, as well as wallets supporting fiat currency.
Today, the bank has already developed a crypto wallet app which was created with the investment of $17.5 million. The app offers also a possibility to trade cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, LTC, and Ripple. The platform offers free transactions without any commissions both for Android and iOS. It can be used only by European clients and soon the bank will obtain the European payment license too.
Monaize
Being a French bank supporting cryptocurrency Monaize has made headlines thanks to the unique mobile banks. It attracts small businesses connected with blockchain technology. One of the largest achievements of this bank is a quick Know-Your-Customer procedure which opens businesses almost instant opportunities. Now small businesses and freelancers can register on the mobile platform and use this account for crypto transactions that accept Bitcoin.
The bank is going to take leading positions not only in Europe and is planning to develop other directions including integration with other third-party services such as crypto wallets. It has already launched a fast KYC check and is planning to expand its services overseas. Clients can take advantage of professional insurance, payment solutions (mPOS, email, SMS and others), crowd lending and factoring. Every business that opens an account on this e-banking platform is provided with a Monaize Business Mastercard within 5 days only. The use of the mobile app allows clients to utilize the following functions:
- Transfer money,
- Consult on the account balance,
- View the latest transactions,
- Get statements on a monthly basis,
- Cancel a lost or stolen card,
- Access round the clock customer support.
Monaize is planning to leverage the technology developed by Komodo Platform and soon its innovation services will look outstanding in the blockchain industry. It is planning to launch its own token and sell it on its personal Initial Token Offering.
Bitwala
This bank’s headquarters are located in Germany and it is one of few banks which offers such a diverse functionality regarding cryptocurrency. This bank suggests clients connecting their bank account to cryptocurrency. It can be achieved by registering a Bitwala crypto wallet and receive your salary or pay for items and services using cryptocurrency. It can be made with a minimum fee of 1%. Moreover, this wallet can be used for storing cryptocurrency and other operations with cryptocurrency.
Bitwala clients can buy and sell cryptocurrency directly from the bank account any day including weekends and holidays round the clock. The weekly trading limit in crypto is quite high €15,000, there are no deposit or edit fees except for a flat fee of 1%.
The bank also offers to monitor the market in the real time when you have logged in your account. Moreover, this account is secure and can be accessed using a personal 12-word recovery seed.
Conclusion
Cryptocurrency enters many spheres of modern people’s lives and it is great that some European banks have added it to the list of their services. It means that digital money has been recognized by a more extensive number of industries and the banking system is not an exception. Despite the fact that there are not many EU banks accepting BitCoin, their success will be an example to follow for many other financial institutions and soon their number will increase greatly.