Digital wallet Abra users may now purchase Bitcoin with their American Express cards.
Digital wallet, Abra, has recently partnered with American Express, a multinational financial services corporation, and announced their months-long integration process.
The partnership introduces a new digital money transfer application that allows Abra users to buy Bitcoins using their American Express Card. A progress seen to be a step towards better cryptocurrency worldwide adoption considering the number of global users AMEX has.
Users with eligible cards are allowed to buy Bitcoin
Weeks before the launch on Tuesday, employees, and staff of both companies, as well as the investors, have been trying out the integration.
However, despite several tests, the other Abra users are not yet allowed to use their American Express in their purchases unless the initial users have successfully completed their purchases.
Ensuring strict compliance
Abra founder and CEO Bill Barhydt explains that the reason for this is because of the potentially “unsavory folks in our universe.” He also added that they want to make sure that they are providing services to the people with good intentions.
Holders of American Express US consumer cards, American Express reloadable prepaid cards, Bluebird, American Express Serve, and American Express-branded cards issued by third parties are allowed to purchase Bitcoins via the application.
What can users do with their Bitcoin in Abra?
The process to obtain an eligible card is actually simple. One can buy a Bluebird card from any Walmart stores and then fund the card and be able to register online. After some steps for identity verification, they can immediately fund their Abra app, and withdraw it as cash with the right local currency denomination.
Some users can also send money to another user and send payments in Bitcoin.
According to Abra, those who have American Express purchase option in their application can buy up to $200 of Bitcoin a day and $1,000 of Bitcoin a month. They are charged with a four percent fee.
Banks that support this partnership between Abra and American Express are Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Capital One, including credit unions from Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, and Fidelity.
